The Last Guardian of Aura
by Stjernefald
Summary: The world is breaking; you know this for a fact. Monsters and Legends beset you on all sides, pushing you to the brink of insanity. And the world keeps gunning for you, while continuously asking you to be its salvation. But you keep fighting; keep mowing down enemies turned mad. You're the only one that can.
1. The World We Die In

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N:** Well, this is my first attempt at fanfiction. Hope you'll like it. It's written in first-person, and is written in a different and darker tone than the Anime.

* * *

**The World We Die In**

_These are perhaps the most trying times we have ever  
faced since the Dark Ages. The people of Kanto needs  
to stand together and believe that we can  
overcome this thread, that we can stand strong  
and not give in to the whims of this lunatic.  
You will be saved – because even in this darkness  
the light isn't further away than Red._

_-Lance _

_Finally! I thought for a minute you'd all forgotten about little ol' me, sitting here in all my lonesome, waiting for someone to talk some sense into. Must admit, I had hoped for some higher-ups, but you'll have to do… for now. Scant welcomes for the guy who turned the whole fucking world on its head, eh? Can't have everything, I guess. Let's get to the point, shall we? Good. I'm here to tell your bosses that they either wake up from whatever girly fantasy they're living in and take notice of the growing shitstorm we are heading into, or this whole fucking place is dead and gone within the end of this week._

_Got your attention, didn't it?_

_Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? How rude of me. Ah, my name is of no importance here anyway – but for the sake of this conversation you can call me Red. Yes as in the color. Why the color red? Well, why not? They say your eyes are the windows to your soul…_

_Where was I…? Oh, that's right, Apocalypse, dear, sweet old Apocalypse – there is a certain beauty to the madness, don't you think? No? Oh well. You've seen the news, right? Of course you have, you're an educated man, after all. Have you seen what he did to Vermillion City, what's left of it? What if I told you he had Legendary monsters in his army of batshit insane Pokémon? Flying, fire-spitting creatures that leaves cities waste in their wake, man. And he's only growing stronger every day._

_It's a funny world we live in, don't you agree, Drew? Forget for a moment the fact that I know you name without you introducing yourself – which I find extremely rude considering I made such a big show out of introducing myself– and think about this: why has Lance been so wary and hostile to me when all I've done is trying to keep the world over waters?_

_It's mindboggling, right? We have a faceless enemy who has terrorized a whole nation singlehandedly, and then we have me who has fought with all my inhuman strength to keep it all together, to keep the world standing while you dickheads have been hiding behind your mommies._

_So why am I the one getting the bad press here? Well, for one, I'm the easiest target, but most importantly Giovanni wanted it like that._

_What choice did Lance have but to obey his wishes? I sincerely hope you can detect the sarcasm in my voice here, otherwise I think you'd might want your school money back from… wherever you shrinks get your educations from these days._

_I don't know how well your bosses have briefed you. Not much, right? They only told you the bare minimum, of course. We can't have a low-level shrink go home to his wife with exciting stories that might compromise just how deep the fucking corruption has sunk its claws into the system. I guess I'll just have to tell you all of it, start from the top and go all the way down into that filthy abomination we call planet Earth._

_I'm here today to seek out Lance's assistance in this goddamn war. I don't know what the future will hold – who does, after all? – but I'll need every fucking man with me if we want to sail through this maelstrom of insanity without losing humanity for good. We can save the remains of our beautiful Region._

_But trust is a two-way street, right? Right. Right, I'll tell you how it all came to be, how I went from a normal human being like yourself and to be what I am now – my journey from a puny human to a destructive force of Mother-fucking-nature._

_I'll mention no name of the places I visited, the people I met, or any kind of detail that can reveal my identity – just a heads-up for you. _

_But before I start you really need to relax, man. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead before you even saw the door to this interrogations room. Chill, Drew, and enjoy the story. It's not a funny or happy one, but I promise you, it's entertaining as fuck._

_Well, maybe…_

* * *

I awoke with a certain feeling of déjà vu, like I had done this one too many times before, been in this kind of danger too many times before. The forest smelled fresh and rich, the sun burning my skin through the shadow of the trees. I wanted to bask in the glow of another fine morning. Really, I did. There was just one small detail I couldn't help but notice, couldn't help but dread.

It was quiet, and in a forest that could only mean danger.

I sat up in my sleeping back, my mind and body too groggy for comfort, and looked around the small clearing I had camped in for the night. It had been another late night last night – never enough peace out here to relax, always too much fear and adrenalin streaming through my blood to calm down.

There was not a living soul in the clearing beyond Pikachu and me, the whistling leaves and gentle breeze the only sound I could hear. Pikachu was awake. The mouse had probably stayed up all night to keep watch – to protect me from the monsters prowling the moonlit wastelands of the forest.

I wanted to say I had grown used to the wild Pokémon in the forest, their awesome powers becoming nothing more than an afterthought in my mind. It should just be an afterthought by now; I had survived for years out here now, looking for that goddamn clue that could bring me closer to my goal, closer to getting me out of this hellhole.

There was light at end of the tunnel, however, and it was shining brighter and brighter for every day. I was getting closer to the origin of _Aura_.

I say that like it's something special, something all should know what is. Well, Aura is life, that's about as accurate a description you'll ever get, and that's pretty fucking special if you ask me, Drew. But Aura is also a power a selected few people through the course of history have been able to tap into and use as a weapon. These persons were called Guardians of Aura – or Aura Guardians. The legend said that these persons used their powers only for unselfish reasons, only to protect the innocent against evil.

I'm not sure if I even believe that, really. It sounds far too much like a fairytale to be true. Too much power can corrupt even the purest of souls, man – can make even the best of our intentions into a screaming abyss hell-bent on tearing down everything in its wake.

I'm not even trying to make a metaphor here, Drew. The world was breaking, is breaking, always will break – unless someone decides to stand up against it all, a brave – or foolish – soul defiant enough to stand up to all the corruption and chaos and defend the innocent at all costs. And it will cost, all victories costs something, that's probably the wisest thing to ever leave my mouth.

I was brave and foolish enough to risk my own soul for the power to save the world, or at least give it a fighting chance. That was why I was out here in the nothingness, seeking power of old and make-believe, I hoped against all rational thoughts that the legends were true, that I was basing my beliefs on something real.

It was a long shot – but it was the only shot I had left.

It had been years since an Aura Guardian had seen the light of day, years since people had stopped believing in the legends surrounding Aura, and today it was considered nothing more than a funny bedtime story for kids. Hell, I wouldn't have believed in all those stupid fairytales if it wasn't because I _knew_, if it wasn't because I had _seen_ it with my own eyes, _used_ it with my own hands.

I had looked for clues ever since the day I _saw_, searched every corner and every shadow of every fucking Region ever since I used it. The world is a big place, let me tell you that. But I finally found it – in Sinnoh of all places – the missing link to the past.

Supposedly, in the forests and mountains north of Indigo Plateau was a village called Milando Village. According to legends it was the birthplace of the legendary Aura Guardian Sir Aaron, and one of the only places where they still believed in the old legends.

I had no idea how much time I had spent sifting through the forest, travelling across the mountains, every day a new place to see, every day a new thing to _fight and survive. _In the beginning it was a welcomed changed as fucked up as that sounds, getting away from the death and grief of my past and explore the unmapped terrain. But as the days turned to months and the months turned to god-knows-how-long, I started to become… a little edgy, you might say.

Pikachu hissed through gritted teeth, its body tensed and on all fours, electricity vibrated along its yellow fur, making its hair stand on end. I stood up and put on my clothes and armor quickly. The armor was self-made in a dull-grey color with no characterizing marks or decorations, ugly, fetid and efficient – it suited me well, I guess. It was heavy and that always took me a few seconds to get used to, but I would manage… or I'd die. I looked beyond the trees where Pikachu was pointing for me; I saw nothing but darkness and only heard a strange whirling sound, like the sound of an echoing wind… but without the wind.

You don't think that was an adequate explanation? Fuck you, Drew – I'm telling the story, it's not my fault if you don't get it.

This was not good – not good at all.

I unclipped a red and white Poké Ball on the belt of my armor; the brilliant light illuminated the clearing and cast some clarity on the darkness for a second as I released the Pokémon inside. A great, orange dragon coalesced from the light and Charizard roared its entrance and challenge.

Perhaps it was a little overkill, not to say fucking reckless brining out a fire-spitting dragon in the middle of a very combustible forest, but I was taking no chances this time, last one almost cost me my left hand…

"Charizard, flush it out," I ordered.

Charizard rumbled an affirmative in the back of its throat and crouched on its hind legs, releasing a small column of flames into the darkness and spreading it wide like a geyser.

I looked on with narrowed eyes, ready for even the smallest movement. You had to be tough and prepared to survive out here, and sometimes you had to be a merciless fuck.

Something moved in the darkness.

"What's – OH SHIT!"

Something dark and all too fucking fast jumped out of the void behind the clearing, evading Charizard's Flamethrower like it was nothing. I tensed my body and readied myself to jump behind Pikachu and Charizard – brave little me – but the little bastard didn't go for us. It went for the tree near us, slashing the thick trunk over like it was paper with its freakishly strong paw and sending the giant thing spiraling down on us.

It might have worked on everybody else but us, the Pokémon with fur as black as the blackest night was already moving to attack us at another angle. The fucker was smart, but not fast enough the make it count.

My Pokémon moved as one without my order. Driven by instinct, Charizard pushed off the ground and hurled its impressive body into the falling tree, muscles bulging like a bodybuilder on too many steroids. The tree was pushed aside and the earth shivered when it hit the ground some meters away. Pikachu chittered like mad and all the energy it had stored since I woke up was released in great wisps of lightning. The attack struck true and the Pokémon that attacked us went down like a hooker on a client.

I breathed hard and felt dizzy, the sudden spike of adrenalin leaving my body. Charizard landed heavily beside me, shaking the ground beneath it. It had all been over so fast I barely caught it, I had trained these monsters and even I was surprised sometimes over their efficiency.

Pikachu relaxed its body. Its ears stopped twitching, always a good sign that the danger was over – one I had come to rely on. I stepped past my two guardians and took my first look at the Pokémon that woke me this fine morning. It was an Umbreon, all dark fur and special yellow markings. You'd never find two Umbreon with identical markings – it was their fingerprints. It was fried and smoking and most certainly dead - just a Dark-Type out looking for some food. Ah, the ironies of the world. You'll see, Drew.

Pikachu jumped onto my shoulder and Charizard came up beside me. We looked at the dead corpse in silence for a few seconds. Then I smiled, noting something positive of the rude awakening. "Guess dinner's served, huh?"

* * *

One well-grilled Umbreon dinner later and we were off. I looked at my compass to make sure we were heading in the right direction, and called back Charizard and released Sceptile, my grass Pokémon and guide through the forest. The fire left behind by my dragon had been easily put out by my Greninja, and it filled my bottle with fresh water, too.

It was a good morning.

I pushed my way through the tree at the edge of the clearing and let the darkness consume me, asking Pikachu for some light on the fly. And everything was going according to the plan, tummies full and a quiet road – a very fine morning, indeed. My reptilian Pokémon were leading us through the forest, somehow Sceptile didn't need a compass to find the right way. I never could figure out how – something with Grass-Type Pokémon more in tune with the nature than the rest of us.

We were one step closer to Milando; I could feel it in my guts. Maybe wishful thinking…

According to the scripts I had found in the Godly Ruins of Sinnoh, Milando Village was supposed to be somewhere directly to the north of the Indigo Plateau. I had often felt like I had been walking in circles among these trees even though my compass kept assuring me I wasn't – hell, even when I walked in the snowy mountains it felt like a fucking circle. Who knew, maybe I _had_ been walking in circles and Sceptile had just been bullshitting me all this time.

Ah, surely not…

This forest was without a doubt the most horrific forest I had ever journeyed through, probably the most horrific place I had ever journeyed through. However, Viridian Forest had been tough in its own right. I could vividly remember my fifteen-year-old self creeping through the forest, my _dear_ parents' screams ringing in my head the whole time. The walk through Viridian Forest had been brutal, more than one time Pikachu and Charmander had saved me from a very painful death. I didn't have clue about the age old art of surviving at the time. My parents hadn't seen fit to teach me that the world was full of creatures that wouldn't hesitate to tear me to pieces. Live and learn, they always said. I learned the hard way.

I could still hear the bitch screaming she never wanted to see me again; still see the red-raw spots of anger on my mother's cheeks as she kicked me out. I had taken that literally and run off with the Pikachu Oak gave me a couple of years earlier, hoping I would never see her again. Never finished my school time – never was any good at it anyway…

It turned out I didn't need an education. Few days into my journey I came across a Charmander, I caught it and that was how my Trainer career started. Then the money started ticking in. When I was sixteen-close-to-seventeen my mother saw me on the television as I won my first League Trophy and all the millions that came with it, and then she _graciously_ forgave me for running away.

As I said, she was a bitch – a dead bitch now.

_Fucking Team Rocket! _

My father was gone to god-knows-where; he survived the attack on Pallet through an unforeseen occurrence. I had no goddamn idea how he survived – he probably just ran off like a coward. And I was out here in no man's land looking for the past to help save the future from corruption and an army of super-clones. I'll get back to the super-clones, just let me talk, Drew. All shall be revealed…

But first I had to find the way.

I focused on the dormant power inside me and _forced_ a little blue light to appear in my hand, bright and strong as a second sun. It felt like the second sun, it was a straining task that took far too much out of me. A few seconds and my hand were shaking with exertion under the sheer power coursing through me, and I had to let it go quickly before I passed out or worse.

I breathed out and basked in the raw flash of ecstasy streaming through my blood like fire – it felt like being reborn. As I said, I was looking for the link to the past that nobody had been able to find in over a millennium, but where they failed I was gonna succeed because I had the undeniable proof of its existence hardening my resolve.

_I_ _was_ the goddamn proof.

Sceptile stopped and sniffed the air; I caught a wisp of something… unpleasant. I was going in my own thoughts and almost walked into its back; I stopped at the last second and managed to maneuver around the green reptilian without any of us falling and making a scene – couldn't look stupid with so many people watching, right, Drew? Then it went rigid, and I had this inexplicable feeling that the peace would be broken soon.

"Is something there?" I couldn't keep myself quiet, peeking out from behind Sceptile shoulder. I couldn't see a thing – didn't mean the coast was clear. In fact, it probably did mean there was something.

_Fucking unnatural silence!_

Sceptile growled lowly in the back of its throat, it couldn't see anything either. I understood Pokémon's sounds as much as the next human being. That was to say I understood nothing, but I could make an educated guess about their intentions through my experience as a Pokémon Trainer and an inborn talent.

I was good at reading Pokémon – always have been – don't ask me why, I don't even know why myself.

We moved onwards, braving through the shadows of the trees. The eerie silence that had settled over the forest this morning, the goddamn fetid smell that had started to spread; it all made me more than a little agitated. It wasn't _normal_; it wasn't fucking supposed to be this quiet.

"Stop," I mumbled. Something was lying amongst the green, knee-high grass we were walking through on our right. My Pokémon had seen it, too. We turned and crept closer to the red blob; it was red with blood. I stopped and frowned, staring at the disfigured body, watching the blood running through the grass from its form. I had to physically stop myself from gagging. Fuck, it smelled.

It wasn't like I'd never seen a dead body before; my life had been filled with more corpses than I cared to count. The Pokémon League in Hoenn and what came after had seen to that, and you didn't live to see your twentieth birthday without seeing something _burn_. But the smell, man, the smell coming of this thing was not just disgusting… it was sickening. You might say that sounds like the same thing, Drew, but believe you me, you'd never seen or smelled anything like this.

And the body, fuck, it was just so mutilated, skin and flesh ripped off its bones – the bones bearing bite marks from something really fucking large. Someone had gone to town on this poor bastard, I couldn't even tell what Pokémon it was anymore. But I didn't judge the beast that did this – we all became some kind of animal out here, we had to if we wanted to survive.

"Keep your heads up for any trouble, we're not alone."

* * *

_Have you ever been in a forest? No? Smart man, it's only gonna break you – however long it will take it, forests is some of the most dangerous environment in the world because you simply have no idea what might hide behind the trees. Trust me. We were definitely not alone. The next thirty minutes or so were spent creeping as silently as possible through that damned high grass. The list of things capable of hiding in such high grass and killing you in five seconds flat is long – it's practically endless._

_So we walk on, me hiding between Sceptile and Pikachu like a little coward, my hand always on my belt with my Poké Balls, ready to release more soldiers to the course, ready to unleash fucking hell. I wasn't really capable of defending myself back then, as you can see I've grown some since then._

_Was the legend true; was Milando Village really the focal point for Aura-practitioner back in the times of Old and Dark Wars? Well, you should know that every – and I mean _every**_ – _**_legend and myth has some truth in it. With Gods-of-fire-like creatures like Moltres flying around goddamn everywhere these days I would have thought you'd know that._

_Of course it was the fucking focal point for everything Aura. It contains – or contained – the power to change the world and more… much, much more. Did I reach it? Ah, in a fashion… you'll see. _

_Ahem, so we moved along the tall grass, making sure to keep every little tuft of grass under observation, lest we'd suffer the wraith of the reaper, man. Bodies like the one we found kept showing up as the day progressed, and I thought it was only a matter of time before we would clash with something big and ugly. _

_I was right, of course. We clashed with something, alright, and my live changed… forever._

* * *

"Poor bastard," I sighed, looking at the dead Caterpie. "Poor bastards…"

This was really bad and unnerving; something was clearly on a rampage through the forest. I didn't want another fight today; I just wanted to reach the village – but as the body count continued rising, that village seemed further and further away.

We'd just happened upon the tenth victim of the day. Each killed by something with big teethes and a lot of power behind it. The bodies weren't in a state of half-eaten or maimed anymore, now there were just killed for the heck of it, it seemed.

The bite marks looked like they belonged to a dragon, but dragons didn't roam this forest. They lived in groups, and if there was a group of dragons in this area I would had seen or heard them by now. But a dragon had eaten its way through these poor creatures, of that I was sure.

I was a little wary of where the trail of bodies would take us, or to _what_ they would take us to. But it had become like a trail for us, creeping and ducking through the high grass and thick trees, the withered leaves crunching under my feet sounded like resounding booms in the silence. Follow the line of dead bodies and you shall fine what you seek – not-fucking-likely, buddy, but I did it anyway – I had to…

We tried to keep away from the areas with too many blind spots: bushes and thick trees with shadows. But this was a forest, blind spots were everywhere. And standing still could mean contact with the unknown, but moving could also mean walking right into a trap.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't," I whispered, running a hand through my shoulder-length black hair. I would kill for a haircut. "Ah, the perils of being a recluse…"

We came upon a clearing with a dusty ground, no tall grass and no bushes, no obvious blind spots – you could never be too sure out here, of course. But I relaxed just a tiny bit for the first time since I woke up, making my way to the big structure standing in the center of the field; I felt Pikachu and Sceptile falling in behind me.

A simple, grey stone-statue arched up high, almost kissing the branches of the lower trees from a black plateau. I craned my neck to get a look at the face. It was a statue of a man with a very dignified face, his nose held high; I got the feeling he was someone important. The statue had a long pointy hat, a couple of pants and shirt with a vest, and a cape over his shoulders. I had never cared for art in my life, always felt it was a waste of time, but still – there was something mesmerizing about this figure. The stone surface was _shimmering_, my own face reflected back at me as if through a withering mirror.

The statue seemed alive, _was_ _alive_. I had never seen something so awesome before, man – it was so fucking beautiful. The statue drew me in, Drew – Ha! Get it? I felt like I should fall to my knees and pray to this statue; kiss its stone feet in surrender. A power – a fucking _Aura_ – radiated from the very stones of the statue, making me shake in my pants in awe at the very sight of the thing. It was the boss; it could make _me_ the fucking boss if it wanted to, if it found me worthy. It was – I was…

I had no clue who this man was supposed to be, Drew, no fucking clue. I had never seen the man before, and that's not a thing to be proud of, buddy. We should all know who this man was. This man was a hero, is a hero – bigger than anyone have ever been.

He was also an insane asshole, but that's a story for later, man.

I shook my head, getting my mind back from the half-assed attempt at controlling it; I staggered unsteadily on my own two feet and glared at the statue. The fucker of a statue had tried to take control of me, tried to lure me into its net like some fish. It wasn't psychic; I had felt Sabrina's particular mind-rape once upon a time and would know it anywhere. But it was not Aura, either, it wasn't like me…

God, the Sabrina incident had been ugly, and another sign of my special affinity for Aura. Back when I was still just a rookie trainer drunk on my own success and power, I challenged Sabrina. She, being the psychic with no social skills and no grasp of personal space that she is, invaded my mind like it was her backyard. I stopped her. _We_ stopped her. I didn't know how I did it at the time, of course – if only I had, maybe then I could have stopped Giovanni before he grew as strong and dominating as he was today.

Oh well, live and learn, live and learn…

I walked closer to the statue with careful steps, closer to the inscription on the black pedestal the statue rested on. It read in a bright blue color:

A tribute to Sir Aaron  
The first Aura Guardian

_So this is Sir Aaron, huh?_ I thought, looking more intently at the figure's face. I had never seen the man in my life, which was weird because the man was legendary. I could have sworn I had seen a picture of Sir Aaron in the Ruins back in Sinnoh, though, but this statue looked nothing like that picture. Maybe it was just a wrong photo, wouldn't be the first time history got something wrong…

_Wait!_ If this was a statue of Sir Aaron that meant that the village had to be nearby. I could feel myself growing excited despite the rational voice in the back of my head that kept telling me it might just have been a random location for the statue.

And then the wind picked up in my direction and the smell hit me like a speeding train, my excitement was quickly replaced by repulsion in a flash of rotten decay – and behold a well-chewed and half-digested piece of Umbreon meat at my feet.

"Fuck!" I coughed, wiping the vomit away with my sleeve. That was not just the smell of death on the air; it was way worse, way more potent. It had an almost acid quality to it, like a fucking Sludge Bomb from a particular volatile Weezing. Maybe it was a dead one – I could hope, always hated those floating fuckers.

Pikachu and Sceptile had smelled it, too, if their expressions were anything to go by. I wondered for a moment why they hadn't smelled it before now, what with all those super senses a Pokémon had and all. But then I remembered they had stopped one or two steps behind me with some distance from the statue, maybe they had been affected by it like me – or to a lesser extent, at least.

"My bet is on a Weezing," I coughed out through my shirt; I held it up to take the brunt of the smell. It didn't really help. My two Pokémon stepped around the statue of Sir Aaron, and walked towards the smell coming from behind the rugged wall of stacked stone with measured steps, their body postures folded tight, tensed and alert for a fight.

It wasn't a half-eaten, rotten Weezing.

But I really fucking wished that it was, Drew, it would have been like seeing an angel compared to what lay beyond those stones.

In a pool of quickly growing blood lay a horde of forest Pokémon in various states of putrefaction. Some of them had been eaten and skinned into their bones; others looked like they had been killed as recently as today. And in the middle of it all sat a Shedinja, all light brown fur with a grey abdomen, and gummed the corpses down like it was fucking candy, man.

Shedinja is one of the most blood hungry monsters you're ever gonna find, which is funny because it has no internal organs that needs sustaining. How it was even alive and kicking I had no idea of, but Oak said it feed on the energy of its victims instead of food – I had a feeling my Aura would keep its tummy full for a long time.

The weird thing was, I had never seen a Shedinja open its mouth before, never gazed into that black hole that could consume a human being three times the size of itself. And get this Drew! It turned those hollow and black holes it called eyes on me, they were as dead as the poor bastards it was eating, and I thought we were gonna die, I was scared out of my fucking mind, like it had me in some kind of trance all over again.

And then it looked up, catching sight of us, and I knew that we had to act, knew that where there was one Shedinja there were almost always more.

"Kill it before-"

I didn't finish my order before Pikachu moved, striking faster than my eyes could follow, but it wasn't fast enough – just a microsecond faster and the little asshole would have been squashed like a bug without a sound. But it managed to make a sound just in time, a high-pitched, ear-torturing sound that could wake the dead and set the world on fire.

I tore my eyes away from the carnage and blood; I searched the bushes for any buzzing sound of small beady wings flapping like mad to get their bodies airborne. There were none, but that didn't make me feel any more comfortable. These Pokémon were smart, however much I detested admitting that, and could hear a call from a – _friend?_ – from miles away.

I looked around, quickly realizing we were sitting ducks down here if they came flying at us.

My hand was already gripping Charizard's Poké Ball before Pikachu had even finished the little fucker off. I spent a second or two contemplating whether or not I should make a dash for safety, take my hide and run like all fucking hell. It would have been the most sensible thing to do, right, Drew? You would have done it, I'm sure.

I didn't. I could be an arrogant idiot sometimes, I suppose. I clicked Sceptile's Poké Ball from my belt and returned the green reptilian to the Ball in a red beam, releasing Charizard with my other hand.

The great dragon towered over me with its thirteen feet. It had barely materialized before I crawled onto its back, getting it to crouch down for me in the process. Pikachu jumped like a kangaroo and landed elegantly on Charizard's neck directly in front of me.

Show off…

I kicked the sides of my Pokémon, and with a tremendous beat of its wings, we were flying. It had taken me a couple of months into my quest for Aura to learn Charizard to fly with me; it was a useful tool for the great distances I didn't want to walk. I was lazy like that.

We breached the tree tops through the clearing, a green ocean of tree spreading under us as far as my eyes could see. Had I really walked through all of this? The reasons why I didn't have Charizard flying me around over the forest were many, but there were really only two that mattered. For one, the air was usually ruled by Pokémon a lot more dangerous and powerful than the forest. The second reason was because the chances of flying past the village and never see it was high, too high.

I couldn't risk that.

The mountains behind me reached all the way up to the cloudless, azure sky, their tops covered in a thick layer of snow. The conditions up there were terrible – I should know, I had walked through the damned environment. The gentle breeze kissed my forehead and I had a moment to enjoy the summer sun and the scenery. It was a beautiful world, even with all the monsters and darkness hiding behind every corner.

The sounds of flapping wings and clicking jaws reached me now, and I turned Charizard with a simple gesture towards the sound and the growing horde of Shedinjas. The little monsters were coming towards us, flying low over the trees in a swarm, looking like a flock of particular blood-hungry mosquitoes.

I made an attempt to keep my head calm and in the game. We could take them; they were not stronger than me and my Pokémon. "Okay, Charizard, fly straight towards them and burn everything. Pikachu, you'll shield us with that neat, little trick you learned the other day, okay? Good. Go!"

Charizard roared again, shaking my very bones, and we charged them, looking like we had a sound plan against the larger force. I thought my plan was sound; Charizard had fought this outnumbered before and come out on top.

The swarm of Shedinjas moved as one, climbing the air in an arrow formation, and headed straight at us. I could feel energy being gathered and see a purple glow coming from their mouths.

_Hyper Beams,_ I thought. It was unusual that a wild Shedinja knew Hyper Beam, even more so for an entire flock of them to know it, but I had seen stranger things, and didn't really have time to care about it.

I pulled at my Pokémon's neck; Charizard knew what to do. Folding its wings and spinning in the air, we danced on the blue sky as they hurled their attacks at us, dodging through fires and beams of world shattering forces. I clung to my dragon with my arms and legs as I felt gravity pull at us. We dived under the swarm of Shedinja with our backs to the ground below. Charizard spread its wings and I felt us going somewhat steady as we lined up for the kill shot.

"DO IT!" I roared over the howling wind.

Charizard released a huge column of super-hot flames into their numbers and sprayed them with fire, lighting them up and making them squeal in pain, even as Pikachu somehow managed to crawl to the dragon's head while we were upside down and fire its own attack at our enemies.

Now they fell like mosquitoes going into a light trap.

Charizard's attacks kept coming, kept striking the horde head on, tearing through them with a savage vengeance, while Pikachu's thunder materialized as a dark blue protective globe of electric spider-web around us. The opposing forces' attacks hit us like tsunamis, the power collision rattling my bones, but whenever Pikachu's shield looked like it was gonna break, more electricity poured into the fray, closing the gaps before any attacks could slip through.

The power around us made my hair stand on end, and the attacks kept bombarding us from all over the fucking place. I gritted my teeth and narrowed my eyes against the howling wind and chaos turned alive, guiding Charizard to the best of my ability through the fires and combusted corpses that we left behind us.

Then the beams of all colors exploded against our shield, igniting the whole thunder structure and bathing us in a scorching orange glow. The wind stopped suddenly and everything was quiet, like someone had stopped time. I couldn't hear anything but my own heartbeat as I glared at the swarm of Shedinja's in front of me – utter silence ruled inside the orange vortex of scorching power we found ourselves in.

Then it all crashed in on itself and exploded, the sheer pressure snapping us around like rag dolls. Charizard staggered in midair and I grunted as the explosions buffeted me and almost tilted me of the dragon, but through sheer dumb luck I managed to keep myself secure and the dragon flew us through it.

Edged on by our initial success, Charizard breathed another Flamethrower at them. Pikachu chittered quietly and hugged its arms over its small frame, releasing a huge amount of white-yellow tendrils of thunder that captured and fried and killed the few Shedinja Charizard didn't manage to catch.

I almost felt sympathetic for the Pokémon, they didn't stand a chance.

I gazed coolly and calculated at the carnage we caused, making sure we got them all. I felt a little prideful, however wrong and sadistic it seemed – we were _good_! Charizard righted us up and we climbed straight up towards the sky through the falling enemies. Pikachu jumped back down in front of me, and I held on tightly through the ride. We cleared out without getting hit, the sun blazing down on us; I had another moment to bask in its rays.

Of course it wasn't gonna last. Charizard spun in midair with an elegance that shouldn't be possible for such a big frame, and roared towards the ground. I couldn't see or hear what it had spotted, but Pikachu had felt it, too. Its body going completely rigid – if I didn't know any better I would say they looked scared, fear hidden behind a fiery resolve.

And then I heard it, the inhuman sound of a forgotten time, an unknown future, and all chaos of the past and future unleashed upon a fucked up world. Don't worry, Drew, you'll understand in due time, and then you'll wish you'd never asked.

Out of the forest _poured_ every fucking forest Pokémon with a set of wings, not just Shedinja, not just a Butterfree or two. They came like smoke from a burning building, soaring higher and higher into the air, and then they were above us, and I swear they blocked the fucking sunlight, a great shadow casted over us. I knew that this wasn't gonna end well, these fuckers looked _mad_, sheer insanity blazing from their dead eyes.

There were hundreds of different specimens; I didn't even recognize half of them. The whole fucking shebang moved as one entirety, like they were some kind of hive mind.

And then the leader – a Dragonite of all things – gurgled the most menacing sound I'd ever heard in my life. Something snapped in the swarm at the sound, and every Pokémon started to gurgle with it – even those that weren't capable of making sounds seemed to scream at me.

_That solves that mystery about the dragon,_ I thought, looking at the big yellow dragon. The Dragonite had its fangs barred, and I could see that there were red with blood. "But just what the fuck is going on here?"

I almost laughed in fucking despair when the rearranged themselves, the big ones of the lot taking the head of the group, we were about to be attacked by some motherfuckers.

I searched my party of Pokémon for something small enough to ride on Charizard with us, I came up short. However, I had two others capable of flying in my arsenal.

"Make it rain," I whispered, staring up at the lifeless eyes of our enemies, they almost seemed to wait for me, holding their attacks until I was ready to fight back, like they wanted to see what I was capable off. "I've never seen wild Pokémon act like this – did you guys act like this before you were caught?"

I didn't receive an answer, my Pokémon focused at the opposite force that just seemed to grow and grow and grow and... Ah, it was a stupid question anyway, though one I'd have liked an answer to. "Do you feel lucky… or are you just dead inside?"

I released my two Pokémon into the fray. Braviary and Garchomp coalesced from the white light and the two red and white orbs flew back into my hands of their own accord. Braviary's blue and red and white plumage was marred with scars of past battles, battles it had undertaken before meeting me in these forests. The Braviary species was a violent sort, making them extremely hard to train – humans were often advised to stay clear of them. I had to have one, of course.

Garchomp had been with me since it was just a tiny little Gible and was perhaps my second strongest Pokémon after Charizard. Like all my other Pokémon it had saved my life more times than I could remember, and was one tough fucker in a fight.

"Stay close to each other," I said, my voice rising to make it known above the wind that had picked up with the army of Pokémon appearing out of the forest. "Strength in number, it's our only chance."

I didn't really have any more to say, or any more time to say anything. The Pokémon struck us like a well-oiled machine, screaming and blasting at us with a rainbow colored wave of attacks. Like smoke on the wind, they crawled the sky, spiraling and attacking down on us – they _reached_ for us.

We reached back. I guided Charizard without a word, and my two other weapons in this fight – this war – followed us. We jumped on the air, avoiding the first crackling wave of attacks coming at us. Charizard roared its challenge and soared straight at the horde of insane Pokémon. I knew instinctively that there were insane. They never – and I repeat, Drew – _never_ fought like this, never together with other species than their own, at best they go different ways when they meet, at worst… well, you catch my drift, right?

Charizard opened its muzzle and sent liquid fire – more powerful than any Charizard should be able to produce – surging into the Dragonite. Rule 102 in a survivor's guidebook: take the leader out first. I thought for sure we had it, but the big monster just rolled and tucked, maneuvering in the sky like some ballerina, and dodged the blazing beam of flames. Garchomp went for the sidekicks, firing and blasting the Pokémon to kingdom come with a barricade of destructive attacks that lit up the sky and shook the nature below us.

I didn't even see what Braviary did because the Dragonite had locked on us, bloody fucking murder in its eyes, sending a Hyper Beam that blazed like a second sun, blinding me from the fight. I felt Pikachu leave my lap, I was barely able to see its frame land on Charizard's head through the scorching light. It screamed and I felt its full power being released upon the world, a thunder struck so hard I had to dig my face into Charizard's hide and just hold on until the world would stop shivering again.

_BOOM! _

The two attacks collided and the world shook beneath us, the air ignited and we were sent spiraling through fire and wind and fucking chaos. I didn't know down from up, didn't know ally from enemy. Charizard charged mindlessly through the vortex of released energy clashing, and I could only hold on as tightly as humanly possible through it, hoping I wouldn't be burned to crisp.

I felt Charizard maneuver us through it all, through Pokémon and fire, the beating heat making my skin raw and painful. We spun and rolled, evading and blasting everything – Charizard's muscles bulged under me as it did a particular vicious move through the air, and suddenly my hands lost contact to its skin and I was spinning and falling and screaming and dying all over again.

My body surged through the air, my eyes blind to it all, feeling the ground getting closer without really knowing which way I was falling. It was all just one big fucking chaos, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Then something crashed into me hard, knocking the air right out of me. I tumbled and glided along a huge and hot frame before grapping around a long neck and hung on tightly, desperately, Charizard roaring in fierce anger and protectiveness as it caught me in the sky again.

I could kiss the little beast, but there wasn't any time for affection because we were being hunted like animals.

I gained my vision in time to see a fucking cloud of Pokémon swallow us, burrowing us in enemies on all sides. They slashed and bit and clawed at us, making deep gouges in my dragon's hide, and Charizard and Pikachu screamed their defiance, releasing huge amounts of potent powers into their numbers.

I felt like I had one leg in hell already.

I clung tightly to Charizard with my left hand, swinging my body back on its back and reaching down into my right boot with my right hand, producing a wicked-looking, long knife. I turned the knife in my hand with a practiced roll and _stabbed_ the closest fucker – a Pidgeotto – through its brains, making it spray blood like a fucking fountain; it didn't have time to even twitch before it was dead.

I had lost sight of Braviary and Garchomp, but I could hear their cries coming from right behind me, I could see arcs of mass-destruction flying around me, exploding like fireworks upon the azure sky, killing and burning everything that dared to move too close to me.

We set the air on fire, battling with such devastating power that could change the whole fucking world. They shielded with their attacks as did we, and the earth shook and vibrated with every clash of inhuman force we made.

I tried to keep up, tried to slash everything that got too close to Charizard, but I found myself so hopelessly out of my depth that more than once I just had to rely on my Pokémon to do the job. I was useless against the vortex of power beating down on us, and only my four brave Pokémon were standing between me and the abyss.

Look into the abyss, Drew, and it will look back at ya. It will fucking break you with its sheer ferocity.

I was only a human against a power I couldn't possible grasp the meaning of, it was like putting an ant in boiling water, I didn't know what to do with myself – I was just burning up.

The air was suffocating me. It was more fire than oxygen, and corpses I hadn't seen getting hit fell around me like black snow. We surged through a incoming horde of Beedrill, burning them before they hit us with those conical stingers that could break through metal. They whined and composted, some of them even blew up like a balloon with too much hot air, and that disgusting green blood of theirs was everywhere, bathing us in it, as we turned on the wind and shot through it towards the ground.

Pikachu jumped from Charizard's head and over me. For a minute I thought it was gonna make some kind of suicidal sacrifice, and I tried to catch it before it fell away. I missed it and almost cried out, but then I looked behind me and saw Garchomp catch it as if we had planned it all along. I could see Pikachu's small muscles bulged and bright arcs of thunder left its body in super-thin tendrils, catching most of our closest pursuers, mowing them down with its power.

We righted up in the last second, Charizard's hind legs almost kissing the trees, and I felt my other Pokémon do the same behind me. Then Charizard spun in midair, almost throwing me off again, and unleashed the fires of hell on the swarm that had followed us.

We had no control of the forest fire this time – just burn it, man, burn it before it burns you!

_Where the fuck is the Dragonite?_ I thought, taking a half look around, fear and exhilaration drumming through my being.

The head of the horde didn't have time to evade and took the fires head on, disappearing in the flames never to be seen again. The rest of the group spread around the column of fire just in time, forming two groups on each side of the blast. One group targeted me and Charizard; the other went for Pikachu and the others.

I caught a glimpse of Pikachu, Garchomp and Braviary clashing with them and cutting through their numbers like a knife through warm butter before Charizard took to the skies and removed the fight from my vision, climbing higher and higher with me hanging like a fucking rack doll behind it. It burned through everything, going at a speed I simply couldn't comprehend. My vision swam in Flamethrowers and Hyper Beams and SolarBeams, and I was scared shitless, Drew. This was a fight on a whole other velocity than anything I had ever witnessed. The air was filled with so much power that my hair was standing on end, and I could only wonder how Charizard managed to get us through it, I certainly wasn't guiding it anymore…

My body was ragged with pain; fierce lances of agony shooting through me from attacks I didn't see hit me. I couldn't have been hit; I reasoned with myself, if I had I would have been a goner for sure, right?

I was only human, after all…

My plan didn't work anymore, if it had ever worked to begin with. I had lost all sense of where my other Pokémon where, I hoped that they would somehow make it through it all. The forest burned with an otherworldly glow, I could taste sulfur on the air, and I thought for a second I had descended to Hell for real this time.

I hadn't, the big fucking Dragonite reminded me of that, as it came screaming out from behind the Pokémon that was attacking us, going straight for Charizard's throat and the kill.

Charizard tried to turn its neck, tried to turn the Flamethrower on the big yellow monster before it was upon us. But he didn't make it, and the dragon sunk its abnormally long and sharp teethes into Charizard neck, making my dragon cry out in agony. Its Flamethrower went wide, and fire-hot blood oozed out of my Pokémon. Charizard tried to turn its neck to defend itself, but the scaly dragon had it in a tight grip.

We lost control of our flight, the larger dragon pushing and gnawing at us. I acted on instinct, even as we were falling, and flung my knife with everything I had at its head. My aim was true but the fucking thing just bounced off its scaly hide, not even making a dent in it. We continued to fall, the other Pokémon buzzing around us, waiting for our cadavers. Charizard was dying in front of me. Its body vibrated under me with cramps of pain, and I felt useless all over again, holding on as the howling wind sent us spinning limply in our fall. I was out here to gain the means to stop Giovanni from taking over, to fill the void that had settled someplace I couldn't quite reach. But now it wouldn't matter anymore, it seemed. _We_ were fucked.

I felt like I was caught in a tornado, in the fucking eye of the storm. I was just along for the ride while we were being picked apart. A little dot in the wind – what the hell did I think I could accomplish in a fight like this. I was only human...

"NO!" I raged, energy boiling over in my body, in my very soul. I lifted my hand, not really sure what I was doing, _and_ _came_ _alive again_! I could feel energy being gathered, running along my arm with a control I never had before. It was as intense as it was awe-inspiring, as beautiful as it was terrifying. My palm flashed with a holy, blue light, a light I would fucking pray to, and a Sphere the size of my head coalesced out of it. I grunted and heaved with exertion and _pushed_ the Ball from my hand.

I didn't have any strength left in me to push it hard enough. The thing should have just fallen to the ground, should have just glided lazily through the air and then gone cold. It didn't, however, it fucking blasted from my palm, almost dislocating my shoulder, and _screamed_ towards the Dragonite faster than my eyes could see.

It struck Dragonite's neck, and the thick, long joint filled with muscles you could only dream about and a hide strong enough to brush of bullet and bombs like there were nothing exploded upon contact, separating its head from its body.

I would have whooped and fucking screamed in joy if I wasn't so goddamn tired all of a sudden. That little ball had almost taken all the strength out of me. Charizard finally pushed the _dead_, draconic head off its neck, sending it falling with the rest of its body into the burning forest while we gained control again.

I breathed out in reverence. That felt good getting out.

We turned to meet the rest of the Pokémon, who had all crawled around us and waited for their leader to finish its work – their looked troubled for a moment, unsure of themselves – this was what dumbstruck looked like on a Pokémon, I realized as an afterthought. Strange mind, we humans have. Charizard was painting heavily under me, the strain of the long fight along with the deep wound in its neck and sides finally taking its toll. I was just as fucked, just as mind-boggling tired. My right hand simply refused to do anything anymore, a tingling from my fingertips and to my shoulder the only thing that reassured me I still had a working arm – but there was no rest for the wicked. My left hand would have to do for now; I tighten my hold with said hand, and prayed to fucking Arceus I would stay on this time.

We plunged straight into the fray, riding and fighting and _burning_ on an energy I didn't know where came from. It became a maelstrom of insanity and power, pieces of bones and half-burned bodies swirling around us and the Pokémon. Fires and scorched beams of all kinds of colors burned the blue sky orange.

I screamed through it all, a giggle almost leaving me at the sheer madness of it all. Here I was, riding on a giant dragon as the whole fucking world turned ablaze around me. We flew through the fire like it was water, and I had no clue where we were anymore – just screaming and screaming and…

Garchomp came through the smoke with Pikachu on its back, Braviary just behind them. They looked relatively unharmed all things considered, little spots of blood running down the side of their bodies. Hell, it might not even have been their blood – ah, the wound in Garchomp's side looked real and bloody enough to be his own. They joined the fight, and suddenly we were winning, breaking the horde of Pokémon apart and taking them out one by one.

_We_ hunted them like animals, sending them spiraling to the ground, gnawing and maiming and scorching them with such savagely satisfaction that we must have looked like the fucking reaper. We were the kings of the forest, the head of the pack – and nobody fucked with us.

I can talk big and brag about it all I want, Drew. I'm awesome.

And then it was over, the few Pokémon that were left turned and fled from us. We stopped our pursuit, letting them run away. And get this, Drew, the sky was clouded and raindrops started falling down on us. The forest fire slowly clenched. It was all just one big happy ending.

It wasn't a happy ending, of course. There is no such thing in this world.

Dark smoke rose below us as the fire was extinguished, but it wasn't the only smoke that rose from the forest. A couple of klicks from our position another column of black smoke was rising – I had a very, very bad feeling.

"Please, tell me it's not Milando Village…" I guided Charizard towards the smoke, my other Pokémon following close behind us, looking out for any extra dangers.

We reached our destination quickly and without any trouble, the forest seemed as dead as it had been all morning, now the silence just made sense. We had created this silence with blood. The trees had been burned away slightly under us, revealing a village no bigger than my home town.

It was still on fire – but the now heavy rain was slowly putting it out.

We dropped down on the edge of the village, and I was just about call out Greninja when I saw the wreckage in front of me, heard the silence of death – and I knew we had been too late. It wouldn't make a difference; burned human bodies lay among all the burning wooden townhouses, the corpses becoming nothing but ash in the fire – an old memory on the wind.

There was nothing left, not a living soul had been left behind.

I didn't know whether to cry or laugh. I was finally here, finally after years of travelling the world for clues, and now there was nothing left. My feeling of invincibility from the fight left me as I gazed upon my last hope being burned away – all fighting spirit leaving me.

_I'm sorry; son, but we don't know who did it._

_I know. It was Giovanni. He fucking burned her – burned them all. And you just stood by and watched as he got away with it. _

God, I hated burning houses.

I recalled Charizard, Braviary and Garchomp; they could rest inside their Poké Ball. Pikachu hopped onto my shoulder, and my legs almost buckled under the little extra weight – I was just so fucking exhausted, I felt like I could fall asleep among the fire.

But I didn't have time for sleep, the rain fell heavy on me now, soaking my clothes, and the houses gradually stopped burning. I stood alone under the darkened sky.

Something twitched behind me and my body somehow tensed through the agony and exhaustion. I spun about on the scorched and wet earth and came face-to-face with… a man.

_A survivor!_ I thought, my hopes rising.

"Hello Ash Ketchum," the stranger said almost sadly, running a practiced eye over the scene around us, taking in all the tragedy and then looking back at me. No emotions. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances… I fear I might have been too late."

_Too late?_ My suspicion rose the moment he uttered my name, and I paid a little closer attention to him. He's clothes looked fashionable and entirely too clean to have been part of any fight. Hell, he looked fresh out of a bath after a good night sleep – with soap and all. There was no good night sleep out here, and certainly no clean bath with soap. I missed a bath with soap.

I didn't sound too much like a girlyman, did I?

"Who are you?" I all but growled, my hand etching closer to my belt and Pikachu going down on all fours. "What do you want?"

The man didn't seem to sense my aggressiveness, or at least didn't fear it. He would learn.

"My name is Riley," the man, Riley, said. "And I've been looking for you, Ash Ketchum."

The way the man said his name, like he was someone of great importance. I couldn't care less about his name, though, but his last sentence made me more than a little wary.

"How did you find me?" Nobody was supposed to know where I was. I hadn't told anybody – not even Professor Oak. I was dead in the world's eyes.

"I followed the scent…"

I frowned – _what the actual fuck_ – and waited for him to elaborate, then blinked when he offered no further explanation. I felt a headache coming. "What?"

"I followed the scent," he repeated, his eyes looking at Pikachu's threatening sparks with idle curiosity.

I never was a very patient man. "_Who_ the fuck are you?"

"Do you even know who _you_ are?"

I very, _very_ strongly considered just ordering Pikachu to fry the man and call it a day. "How did you survive the attack?

"I'm skilled."

"Bullshit!" I took a step closer to the unnerving man, breaking his personal space. I wanted to hit him really fucking hard. Somehow I kept myself in check. "Not even Lance could have survived that shit!"

The man smiled. "You did."

I laughed harshly, it sounded hollower than it used to – maybe the forest had finally gotten to me – and spat blood on the ground at his feet. "I'm not just anyone."

He didn't bat an eyelid. "Neither am I."

He held his hand out towards me; his palm turned against the sky in front of him, pain and concentration flashed across his unremarkable features and dull, blue eyes, and then the hand turned _blue_.

I took a step back from the sheer shock that hit me, staring wide-eyed at the golf ball-sized Aura Sphere in his hand. But Riley didn't seem to have the strength to keep the power coursing into the ball and he let it go, wobbling unsteadily on his feet and resting his hands on his knees.

I blinked, trying for words and found none. So I blinked again. "I thought I was the only one…"

"You are," Riley breathed raggedly. He looked to be near death, slowly standing up again. "You are. What you just saw… was the most Aura I can squeeze out of me… without killing myself, but you – you could set the whole world on fire."

I was still suspicious, but his show of the impossible had made me temporally lost for words.

"I saw what you did to that Dragonite. I knew you were the one I had searched for – knew it the moment I saw you blow its head off."

"What do you want?" I asked. My voice sounded dead to me; I just wanted to fall asleep. But I kept myself alert, distrusting to the end, people in this world never did anything for free – another of the hard truths I had come to learn on the road. Live and learn.

"Aura," said the man, looking absentmindedly at the wreckage around us before looking straight into my eyes. "The most mysterious force of all known to mankind. I want to see you reach your full potential – to save mankind before it destroys itself in its corruption and lust for power, to undo all the wrongs of our past. You are the key, Ash. You can save us all."

There was a fire in his eyes, a burning belief in what he said. He was almost shouting by the end, and for some strange and unfathomable reason I couldn't help but believe every word he said.

Well, it wasn't that strange. I knew what he said was true, but it was strange seeing another person actually agreeing with me.

"I can help you achieve your goal. I can help make an end for your journey, and stop Giovanni from taking over everything. Will you accept me as your teacher?"

_No beating around the bush, huh._ The man was one big fucking question mark. Riley knew far too many secrets. How had he known about me? If he knew about Giovanni, then why was I the only one fighting him? But what choice did I have but to take his offer? I had exhausted all resources, used and lost any opportunity I'd ever had to hone my affinity for Aura into a potent weapon – this was my last shot. He was my last shot. A gift sent from heaven? Probably not, but if I wanted to make a difference I needed to take whatever chance I received.

I nodded. "When can we begin?"


	2. A Shade of Blue

**Disclaimer: **I still have nothing to do with Pokémon. I'm only borrowing it for entertainment.

**A/N: **Second chapter is up. This chapter will set the stage for the next couple of chapters, and give some plot points to the story later on.

* * *

**A Shade of Blue**

_I've damned myself to a  
__path I see no way out of.  
Please, show me a sign!  
I fear I'm breaking..._

_-Ash Ketchum "Red" _

"Tell me one more time," I said, trying to start a conversation. Again. "Where are we going?"

I followed the blasted man through the almost impenetrable fog and low-hanging twigs, shielding my face against thorns with my right arm. It was growing numb to the pain. I was slowly going mad in this never-ending forest and one-sided conversations. Riley, my first human company in months, wasn't the talkative sort; in fact, I've had better conversations with Pikachu.

My mouse was perched on my shoulder, and it nuzzled into my cheek in an attempt to calm my temper. It didn't really work, but I appreciated the gesture all the same. I gave it a little scratch behind the ear; it always liked that…

Riley stopped abruptly and uttered a sigh that suggested great suffering. "The Tree of Beginning," he said.

I'd noticed some things about Riley in the last couple of days. He knew his way around this forest way better than me, which was a little unsettling considering how much time I've spent in this godforsaken place. He didn't like talking – actually, he hated it with a silent passion – and the few times he did talk, he stopped doing whatever else he was doing.

In this case he stopped walking… directly in front of me.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, flailing my arms as I used my _considerable_ strength to make a quick pirouette around the man. I succeed in avoiding him, but unfortunately a root was sticking up from the ground and caught around my foot. I felt flat on my ass on the hard, unforgiving stony road, Pikachu jumping from my shoulder just in time.

Normal people would have laughed, Drew. Normal people would have given a helping hand with a smile, telling you to be more careful or sorry for being in the way, right? Not this guy – oh no, not this guy. The glare that met my eyes when I looked up could have frozen the fires of Hell.

"What the hell are you doing?" he all but spat at me – I thought for a minute I saw foams around his mouth, he reminded me of a Granbull. A very angry Granbull with very sharp fangs.

I sat there on my bruised ass, wondering if he was joking around. I mean, nobody could be that cold, right? Surely, he was just messing with me, pulling my chain, and whatever else saying you can come up with, buddy.

"I – you… what?" I must have looked like the confused fool that I felt.

His face was set in stone, looking at me like I had just told him his newborn child was an intersex. "Are you waiting for an invitation? Get up."

I got up; almost feeling compelled to say, _yes sir_. He looked me up and down, sighed one more time, and turned around and started walking again.

I hated the way he turned, like he knew I was gonna follow him, even after he basically just humiliated me. I hated that I had to follow him; I preferred to do things alone – is that the feeling you've gotten from me, too, doctor? A lone wolf, huh. Probably right, it has to be that way; too many people get hurt around me...

But I needed him, needed his expertise and knowledge. I needed him more than he needed me. Or so I thought at the time…

I rushed up to him, walking beside him this time, oh yeah, smart boy this one, and I felt Pikachu jump onto my shoulder again. It took me a second to remember what we had been talking about. "What is the Tree of Beginning again?"

I had asked this question a couple of times over the last three days, and judging by Riley's expression he remembered those times pretty well. He stopped walking again. _Ha, missed me._ "Nobody really knows – the Tree hasn't been seen in over a millennium – but it's believed to be the beginning of life," he said. "The place where it all began…"

"But that doesn't really explain anything," I said with a frown, recognizing the answer as the same he always gave, or almost… he had left the conversation open this time. "And if the Tree has been hidden for so long, then how can we be sure it even exist?" I was more than a little skeptical, Drew. I had read all the rumors and _facts_, and nothing had been substantial enough to make me believe in its existence.

"We can't, but..." he stopped midsentence, hesitation written clearly across his face, he looked almost... embarrassed. Then he apparently threw whatever caution he had to the wind. "But _they_ know. _They_ say that the Tree was a gift to mankind, a gift that was later taken back because mankind tainted its power."

"They say? Who are _they_?" I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

Riley's face had become truly unreadable. The irreplaceable frown more firmly in place than ever. But I thought I could detect a measure of – fear? "Have you ever heard about Arceus, Ash?"

I blinked, and then rolled my eyes. _really?_ Did he really want to go _there_? "Yeah," I said slowly, taking care to hide to note of scorn in my voice. "The Pokémon God, right? It's a pretty big deal in Sinnoh from what I understand."

Riley _snorted_ – he actually honest-to-fucking-Arceus snorted. "Pretty big deal, he says – only the creator of everything, nothing major. In Sinnoh they believe that the Tree is a gateway between worlds. A link Arceus created many years ago so it could keep watch of this world… and the next."

"A gateway to heaven, huh?" Ah okay, I was never really a great believer in the unknown and unexplained, which was weird when you thought about what I had devoted my life to. I didn't believe in Arceus and his creations of otherworldly strength. Dialga and Palkia, the rulers of Time and Space. The very notion of beings capable of controlling such powers was inconceivable to me. If those legends were true, then it would remove any shed of doubt about our own control of our lives. It would make me mad after everything I've done, Drew.

Madder, yes, madder, of course…

The Godly Ruins in Sinnoh was filled with scripts that contained tales of beings with so much power that the very fabric of our world changed every time they fought. And they fought, of course – we humans have to have gotten our lust for conflict somewhere, right?

The people of Sinnoh were very dedicated to Arceus and its deeds. Hell, some of them were downright fanatics, going to temples and pray to a Deity they had never seen, and probably never to glimpse at in their life. The power of believe, eh? It can change a man in ways nobody can predict…

"You don't really believe that, do you?" I asked.

"Of course not," Riley said. "It all bullshit, but that's beside the point."

"What's the point?" I asked warily, dryly. I didn't give a fuck for this.

"What if it's not just bullshit?" he replied, his words filled with promise and hidden truths. "What if all those legends about a heaven and hell, a creator of the very existence were true – a being so powerful that it could breathe life upon darkness? Think about what that would mean?"

I didn't want to, man. As I've said, it would change everything. "Every legend has a grant of truth in it…" I trailed off, still not sure I liked where this was going.

"Exactly, exactly," Riley said, his eyes shining with excitement. I was seeing a new side of Riley – there was a thirst for knowledge behind that cold exterior. "We live in a world filled with creatures that can breathe fire and create earthquakes with a thought. If Aura is real, then we can assume that the Tree in the legends is more than just an ordinary tree."

"But how would you find the Tree? I mean, isn't it supposed to be this giant thing that nobody would miss – wouldn't our space satellites or something have caught a tree that puts mountains to shame?"

The Tree was supposed to be so big that it was once considered the central point of our _flat_ planet. It was fairytales and make-believe, but you should never underestimate the power of a good story, Drew.

"You would think so, right?" Riley shook his head. "But for some strange reason, the Tree escapes our eyes time and time again."

"Or it might not exist. Arceus, Dialga and Palkia, The Tree... maybe there all just legends. Yes?"

"No," Riley replied with such conviction that it almost made me believe him. "Arceus and its creations might not be real, but the Tree is very real.

"How do you know that?"

Riley sighed and looked at me, all delightfulness and excitement leaving his face. He looked haunted. "I've seen it."

I blinked. "You've seen it?"

"Yes, it's a magnificent and terrible sight to behold – so much power… it almost killed me."

"Killed you? How?"

"It used Aura," Riley said, rubbing his face tiredly. "No, it _was_ Aura."

"I don't understand," I said, quite confused. "If the Tree almost killed you, then why are we on our way towards it?" I took a quick look at our surroundings, noting the fog slowly clearing. I could see the path we were walking on now, see the spot where I busted my ass some moments ago.

We had been standing too long in the same spot.

Riley looked around, too. "I don't believe it will kill _you_," he said, as he started walking again. I could hear drizzling water in the distance, and the air seemed to become moister with our every step. _A waterfall,_ I thought. Hopefully, it would provide us with some caves, giving us shelter for the night.

"Why wouldn't it hurt me?" I asked.

You wield Aura, too," he replied, looking at me from the corner of his eye. He's body posture was rigid, like he could see all the monster hiding in the shadows. "It won't hurt its own kind."

"But I can't wield my Aura," I reminded him, walking beside him.

"You will," he promised. "When I'm done with you, you won't be able to recognize yourself."

Truer words have never been spoken, Drew.

* * *

_And so it began, my training towards the fatal meeting with the Tree. The Tree was a sentient being said to give some of its power to those it saw worthy - I had to become worthy. Of course, this was all what my trainer told me, and I just had to trust him on his word. But he was right, Drew, we both know that. _

_I was in a moderately good shape before meeting my trainer, but he turned me into a… machine – no pun intended, of course. But it quickly became clear for both of us that something wasn't right, that something was holding me back. _

_I never realized what was wrong during the training, or maybe I did and was just to chickenshit to face the truth about myself. But in any case, I didn't improve fast enough. Oh, I got stronger, faster, smarter – well, maybe not smarter – but it was slow progress, and even though he seldom said anything, I could feel his ire growing for everyday I failed._

_But I did change. Aura Spheres stopped having the effect of the plague on me every time I produced one, now they just made me want to crawl into a black hole and die._

_Have you ever done something that you didn't want to, Drew? Have you ever pushed forward while your very soul screamed at you to back down, to give it up and go back to your normal life? Have you ever felt so compelled to do something that you gave up the thing you wanted the most just so you could make a goddamn difference? Have you ever felt like you truly _mattered_?_

_I didn't like doing this, not one bit. I hated everything about my life, my trainer, my training; my fucking Aura was a curse to me. But I did it all anyway because I knew that someday I'd be needed to step up and defend the world against the monsters lurking behind the corner. I wasn't smarter than everyone else; just brave enough to face the truth about our world. _

_It's overrated, you know. Being the hero, making a difference… heroes don't exist. I haven't found one, at least. I could have been happy. I could have sit and sipped on my tea in the moonlight with the woman I loved by my side, but then what would have happened to the world. _

_We make choices, and those choices stay with us for the rest of our lives. We can't take them back, at least not those that _matters_. I'll live with the choices I've made forever… but just know this, Drew, without me you'd all be annihilated. _

_And that's enough to keep me going. It has always been enough…_

* * *

I jumped and rolled out of the way, feeling the pillars of flames licking at my skin like at poisonous snake. Gaining my feet far quicker than I had been able to a few months ago, I blocked the hit that threaten to take my head off. My hand trembled under the force of the blow, but I pushed on through the pain and went on the offense. My hand lashed out; going for my opponent's neck with everything I had left, wanting to end the fight before I collapsed.

It blocked my hit like it had read my mind.

It pushed me back with a strength I shouldn't be able to counter, but I gritted my teeth and pushed back. We were inches apart, identical snarls on our faces and hatred in our eyes. I shook all over with the effort but I finally managed to get it pushed off me, getting enough distance between us to give my Aura a workout.

I screamed in primal fury, firing two blazing blue energy Spheres from my palms. The fucking bastard took the blows directly to the chest, my Aura Spheres sending it flying off. It sailed through the air as if in slow motion and crumbled to the ground in a heap some thirty feet away.

"Yes!" I breathed in triumph, resting my hands on my knees. I finally defeated the little-

Something crunched on the ground, sounds of footsteps reaching my eyes, and I realized with growing dread that the fight wasn't over. I looked up, meeting two icy blue eyes narrowed to slits, animalistic fury swirling in its orbs. I almost gulped before realizing that was considered a sign of weakness.

_Never show weakness, _Riley had kept hammering into my brain the first two months of the… training camp. He had yelled those words into my ear, while I was getting my ass kicked by the creature standing in front of me now.

It took a deep breath and blurred out of vision, moving faster than my eyes could follow, but I sensed it – oh boy, did I feel it moving.

My Aura screamed at me to get my ass moving out of the way.

I moved, letting myself fall in a dived roll that had me dodging in the last second as the Pokémon came blurring into my former position. I had a moment to pride myself that I actually felt it coming without seeing it. But then my laugh died on my lips, as the fucker just _stopped_ as if it had only been walking, kicking up dirt and mud in its turn around.

Then it moved again, zooming out of my vision. I closed my eyes panicky, searching for the motherfucker before it-

_CRUNTCH!_

Pain racked through my body, as I was sent spiraling away by the fist to my abdomen – I hadn't even felt the Pokémon move. I crashed in a heap, feeling like I just broke my spine. I groaned and turned on the ground, starring bleary-eyed up at the Pokémon that was walking towards me with lazy movements.

"Fucking Infernape…" I whispered, closing my eyes and breathing out slowly. "Ouch… that hurt."

The damned monkey stopped directly in front of me. I wanted to defend myself, rise up and fight back, but this was not the first time I had been forced to my knees in this fight. Every time, I felt like I was gaining some momentum, the little bastard used Quick Attack and disappeared from my vision.

I got on my hands and knees, as far as I could manage, and stared at the ground, feeling the monkey heat up as it prepared the deathblow. I raised my head through the pain and locked eyes with my executioner; I wanted to be face-to-face with my defeat.

"Enough," a low voice said to my side.

I breathed again, noting for the first time I had been holding it, and collapsed completely this time. My rips felt cracked, and my left eye was seeing red, blood running like a thin river from my forehead. The cold, unforgiving voice sounded like a choirs of angels singing down on me at that moment.

I heard his footsteps growing closer, my savior and tormentor were circling me. "Where did you go wrong?" he muttered.

_Where did I go wrong?_ I was finding it somewhat difficult to see or think through the pain and blood. My lungs were _burning_. "I didn't… use my Aura… to guide me… enough."

He crouched beside me as I got on my knees again, flicking the blood out of my eyes with my hand. "You have to keep focusing on the energy within you at all times if you want to master it," Riley said, almost gently.

"Easier said than done." I trembled and hurt all over as I finally got on my feet again. I couldn't help but look down at my chest. It was heavily scared and burned, marks I had received in the last months while training with Riley. The burn marks had been in my last training session with Infernape, its Flamethrower had swallowed me whole. I had woken up three days later. I was still not sure how Riley had saved me.

"In time, it will become second nature for you to call upon your Aura, but for now it'll take hard work," he whispered. "Nobody said it was gonna be easy."

"Easy? Easy! I'm fighting against a flaming monkey who knows karate! That's not hard work, that's flat out insane."

"You have got to stop seeing the world in black and white. You're beyond human perception now, Ash, start acting like it."

I frowned, taking my time to answer, and get my breath under control. "What the hell are you talking about this time?"

Riley sighed. "You're getting better every day, and I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before you get it down, but…" he paused and looked at his Infernape. It was standing still and to attention. "…we don't have that much time. You fight like a human, with a human's limitations. You don't have those limits – they don't apply to you – it's your mind that keeps building these… these walls around yourself, protecting yourself from your true power."

"I'm not scared – and I _am _a human," I said, fast and sure. "My body has the same limits as yours – as every man has."

"Look around you, Ash." Riley pointed at a thick trunk at couple of meters away from me. The tree had been torn from its trunk, I distinctly remembered one of my Aura Spheres cutting through it. "Normal humans don't throw balls of energy around from their body, slicing through trees like they were paper. You're not just a man anymore, you're something more…"

"_I am human,"_ I said, almost growled.

"That's your problem right there," Riley replied, infuriatingly calm. How did he keep his composure so… perfectly? "You keep clinging to your humanity because you think it will save you. We humans are, in our nature, a flawed species."

"You sound like you've already given up on us," I accused. I could feel my damned temper rising within me again. "If we humans are so hopeless, then why are you out here helping me in the first place?"

"I've already told you that. I believe you can save us." He rubbed his eyes with his unnatural thin, white hand, looking more tired and worn than I'd ever seen him. "The human race is not lost; it just needs a push – a wakeup call."

I sighed, and sat down on the trunk I had carved through. "What if I can't give them that push?"

Riley sat down beside me. "Then Giovanni will slowly take over everything with a personal army of cloned Pokémon. An army of super Pokémon."

I blinked and narrowed my eyes, feeling old insecurities and suspicions about the man looming in the corners of my mind again. "How do you know about that?" I whispered

"The super-clones?" he asked. I nodded, gesturing for him to continue and keeping a neutral expression. "Giovanni approached me about his project. The cloning of Mew. Second attempt. Apparently, there was a teenager who had destroyed his first experiment."

I had destroyed his plans, but I didn't care for the not-so-subtle pat on my shoulder. "You knew about his experiments… and did nothing?"

"There was nothing I could have done."

"How about telling someone – how about destroying the lab like I did? How about fucking kill the guy while you talked to him?"

"If Giovanni was _that_ easy to get rid of, don't you think he would be dead by now?" Riley asked. "And I saw what happened to you when you decided to take action."

"At least I did something!" I snarled, leaping to my feet and towering over the fucking coward. "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis-"

"-Maintain their neutrality. I'm familiar with the saying. It doesn't change the fact that you were the only one reckless and stupid enough to think you could actually beat him. This isn't a war ordinary humans can win. We need more…"

"There is no war! The fight is already lost as long as people keep turning the other cheek to him."

"And you think you inspired people to stand up to him, hmm?" Riley asked, rising to his own feet. He looked just as angry as I felt. Angry but calm, a feat I could never hope to copy. "Everybody knows you defied him, Ash, and everybody knows that your mother got burned for it. Do you really think that will make people willing to take a stand? Lance took Giovanni's side over yours out of fear. Nothing more – nothing else. That kind of fear is… an immovable power… nobody will _dare_ to fight him again. Until someone shows them the way."

I felt like killing him right there on the spot, tearing his body apart limp for fucking limp. I hated my mother – even in her death – but she _was_ my mother. She, along with the rest of Pallet Town, had burned in my defiance. And for Riley to just so casually bring it up…

But he was right, it was my fault.

_I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry._

"Lance might be the Champion of Kanto, but Giovanni is its King," Riley finally said, sitting down again with a wary expression. "If he didn't want Lance to be the Champion, then he wouldn't be. And it's only a matter of time before he has his army ready… and then the world will have nothing to answer him with."

I sat down beside him, feeling my own anger run dry. There was no point in anger right now. "That's why you came looking for me."

Riley nodded. "Five years ago, I felt something – a power beyond anything I've ever felt. I've been looking for that power ever since."

_Five years ago…_ "I should've died that night," I said. "I _did_ die that night. Giovanni had me surrounded, but…"

"Your Aura was not ready to give up," Riley guessed or knew. He probably knew – the bastard seemed to know everything.

I could hear my Pokémon training in the distance, resounding booms of their awesome powers reaching my ears. I searched for their energy sources – their _Auras_. I found them easily enough. Quickly focusing on the sparring match between Charizard and Garchomp, I became a silent spectator to their fight. How they never got more hurt than they did I couldn't fathom, but somehow they always made it out alive from their insane training.

I closed my eyes, seeing the world in a different perspective. Blue lights dance across my sight and coalesced into a living and breathing blue world. I could see Charizard belched its Flamethrower at Garchomp as if I was standing right next to it, I could see every muscles in Garchomp's hind legs bulged as it jumped out of the way.

This was the kind of creatures I was gonna have to go up against sometime in the future…

"So… I should let go of my humanity?" I asked after a minute or two spent in silence, almost chuckling at the idea. "Be the weapon against Giovanni?"

Riley blinked, looking lost to the world for a moment in his own thoughts. "The world's weapon against the war and corruption," he finally said. "You know there is a war on the horizon. Let go of the part of you that's holding you back."

_War, _I thought. I had already seen it.

_I'm sorry; son, but we don't know who did it._

_I know. It was Giovanni. He fucking burned her! And you just stood by and watched as he got away with it._

"What's holding me back?" I asked.

"Only you can know that."

And that actually made me laugh.

* * *

_We trained day and night. _I_ trained day and night. _

_The first couple of months before our talk had been some of the worse in my life. I was burned and fucked and almost killed several times. But it was the months after our talk that life really started getting rough. I felt like I had enlisted for the G-men, and was beginning Boot Camp – only way more inhuman. It was necessary; however, as he had said it, my enemies would be a lot more dangerous than well-trained humans. I needed to be more…_

_He tortured me, broke and rebuilt me muscles by fucking muscles. The sick thing was – and here you have to correct me if I'm wrong – I started to like it. The training started to become a… mantra for me. I couldn't go for a full day without having to feel the pain of a hard workout. Is that an obsession? I think it became an obsession to me – be the best, be more than I was. _

_I became powerful in those obsessive training exercises. Progress became all I could think about, and I progressed… transcended…_

_Afraid? Yes, I became afraid of myself. You've seen what I can do – no human being should have that kind of power at their disposal, but Aura wanted it differently. So I blocked that fear… as much as I could, and pushed on._

_Aura fascinated me, still does. There seems to be no end for what you can achieve if you have the power and the control. We can see everything, without really seeing anything at all. We can feel even the smallest flutter of a breath miles and miles away, and we wonder… _I_ wonder…_

_Am I human? Do I have any right to call myself human? Even after everything I've done – every immoral action I've taken? What do you think, Drew? Can I still be considered of mankind? No, I don't want your professional opinion. Give me a straight answer. Oh god, do you hear me sigh?_

_Yes I kept telling myself every day, I was still human. But, Drew, the lines have blurred. I was a man once upon a time, but that time is long gone. I'm not just human anymore, I am _more_… _

_Don't give me that look; I don't need your pity. _I am more_, more than your worthless mind could ever comprehend. _

_I am Red, born to two humans – born as a human. I'm also a being with powers even the most amazing Deity of _this world – _and take notice of the emphasis I placed on this world – can only imagine. I am human. Beneath this cold, grey layer of awesomeness, a human heart beats and _bleeds_. _

_Maybe one day I can actually believe it. _

_But still something troubles me… beyond the obvious._

_What does it mean to be a Guardian of Aura? What is my role? Is one man supposed to hold the kind of power I can touch?_

_The answer is no. I don't think anyone is meant to hold this kind of power, and maybe that is what's holding me back, the fear of my own might, and the fear of what I can do if I'm unleashed upon this fucking world. Maybe he was right, after all. You've only seen a small part of what I can do, Drew, pray that the world doesn't force me to… unload. _

_But I have the power, the potential to set the world on fire, and the reason for it is clear to me._

_The world is breaking, at least something he and I could agree to._

_Nobody can see it, of course. Or want to see it for that matter. I gotta hand it to him, Giovanni is one smart fucker. Everyone sits at home and thinks that Lance protects the Region against all evil, when all he really does is aiding it. If he didn't, he wouldn't be sitting on the throne in the first place. _

_Fear… is one of the most powerful forces known to mankind._

_Every Gym Leader and Elite Four member across the globe knows Giovanni's true colors. They know the man wouldn't hesitate to terminate them the moment there are not needed or if they defied him. I've always suspected this to be true, and my mentor all but confirmed it. _

_Why was I the only one who tried to stop him? Because I was the only one arrogant enough to think I could succeed? Maybe he was right about that, too._

_Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm wrong, and all I've really achieved is just damning this sinking world further into the abyss. Maybe I should just stop while I still have some of my soul left. Go back to _her_, and spent the rest of this world's days in peace._

_Or maybe I should just stop whining and get on with it. _

_My ill-conceived actions against Team Rocket showed me that Giovanni meant business. When people saw Team Rocket, they turned the other way, pretended that nothing was wrong and went on with their lives. When I saw Team Rocket, I fought, destroying whatever sick experiment they were running down in those laps in Hoenn because I believed it was the right thing to do._

_Giovanni disagreed with me. He knew what I had done. What I had cost him. I was sixteen-close-to-seventeen, and had just done something that made me famous. He knew it was me who had attacked his laboratory with that Mew-clone. So he attacked my hometown, killed my mother and sent my father into exile. _

_Lance and Steven agreed to call it an accident, and therefore the world know it as an accident. It was a gas leak that caused an explosion, burning the whole town to the ground. I fucking hate cowards who play tough, and then hide when they have to take action. _

_My desperate – and reckless, I admit – one man attack against Giovanni showed me that even though my prowess as a Pokémon trainer should be the stuff of legends; they're also as insignificant as a Caterpie compared to the might of Team Rocket._

_He destroyed me – his armies of normal Pokémon._

_Why did I seek revenge? He killed my mother! It doesn't matter that I hated her. She was my _mother_; didn't they teach you anything in shrink school? Of course I wanted revenge._

_But I didn't get it. If it wasn't because my Aura acted up and saved me, I would have been dead that night. And now he's creating Super-Pokémon again. _

_The world is breaking. _

_And I'm its only hope, Drew._

_It's just you now, son, he told me. _

_He was right… it's all on me now, and I don't have a goddamn clue what the hell is going on._

_What's my mentor's name? There is no harm done in telling you, I guess. The world will know my identity soon enough, I think. His name was Riley – just Riley._

* * *

I gritted my teeth, not out of pain or exhaustion, but in fierce concentration, my face twisted up in a heavy frown. The flimsy blue layer that surrounded me like a globe gradually became less and less transparent, tendrils running along the surface like blue lighting. My hands were raised against the shield, the hairs on them standing on end. My hands weren't really necessary, but they worked well as a way to focus my mind until I became more proficient.

"Good, great. Keep your mind clear, and focus only on the shield," Riley was saying to me from the other side. "I'm going to release Infernape now…"

"Go right ahead," I said, almost cheerily – nothing could stop me now.

I caught a flash of a brilliant white light, and heard Infernape rant its arrival. I felt a small flutter of doubt settle in my stomach like lead, the jump of my pulse reminding me of what I was about to attempt. I caught eyes with the flaming monkey, and hardened my gaze into two icy amber orbs, shoving my fear and doubts away in the deepest black hole of my being.

This time I was gonna win!

"Infernape," Riley said, dull and cold, devoid of all feelings and mercy. I was fucked – _no, I can do this!_ – I clenched my hands, reading myself for the fight. "Use your Flamethrower at him."

Infernape grunted an affirmative, and turned to me. I tensed up, and gave my last strength to the shield. My shield throbbed and turned a dark blue, becoming completely opaque – for some reason I could see right through it.

The Infernape _smirked_ and reared its head back, before unleashing a grand column of flames from its snout. The fire charged at me, and I had a millisecond to regret ever meeting Riley before the flames were upon me.

The heavy blue shield flicked and bent, the fires pushing at my creation, and I had to close my eyes and fight through the pressure and pain.

And then the pressure lessened, as fast as it had arrived, and I could open my eyes again. Glinting like twinkling stars, the bubble of Aura fought against the fire that threatened to consume me. My breath caught in my throat, and for a moment I just stared at the two energies clashing. Then cracks started appearing along the surface, my shield groaning as the fire ate at it.

I snapped back to focus, applying pressure against the Infernape's will.

It became a battle of wills and might, my will against Infernape's, my Aura against Infernape's fire. I called upon every fiber of my Aura and sent it all into the fray, pushing and fighting and raging against the white-hot flames.

The fires kept coming from Infernape like a fountain, surprise and anger in its eyes. I smirked back at it. _This time I'm the one in charge!_ The pressure was completely gone now, and I pushed even more power into the shield, banishing the flames in a grand show of control and _Aura_.

The little fucker was getting stubborn, but I could see the undercurrent tone of fear in its stance. It was hunching, liquid fire pouring out of it mouth in waves. It didn't matter, I was too strong – I was better.

I fought the Flamethrower, the attack now losing contact with my shield, most of my Aura focused on the area between us. My bubble of blue energy was silent, but outside of it winds and fires raged against each other. Arcs of Aura ran along the beam of fire like tiny tendrils, locking the assault in its tracks.

A silent scream left my lips, and the fires extinguished as if they had never been, my Aura burning through the hot air and striking Infernape. I sent the monkey of flames flying, blue flames consuming most of its form.

That felt fucking amazing.

My hands fell to my sides of their own accord, the shield flickering like a plasma screen losing power before falling apart. Crystal-blue Aura flakes fell in gentle waves around me, leaving a flimsy imprint in the air.

I turned my eyes on where I'd seen Infernape go down, hoping I hadn't harmed it too much. Riley would be pissed if I accidently killed one of the only Pokémon he had left – his starter no less.

Infernape was alive and already struggling to get up again, blood running from a wound in its abdomen that it cradled with its hands. I actually felt a little bad about that. In all the excitement and sheer rush of success, I'd forgotten what my Aura could do if I wasn't careful.

"Ahem," Riley coughed, gaining my attention. "Well, except for almost killing my Pokémon, I would say that was a success beyond even what I imagined."

I scratched my neck, an impish smile breaking out on my face. "Heh, ah, I guess I got a little carried away…"

Riley arched a bushy eyebrow. "You don't say," he said, turning his eyes on his Pokémon. "You okay?"

Infernape grunted and nodded, the wound already healing. I felt a little jealous of its health regeneration rate; I certainly wouldn't be standing after getting hit by an attack like the one I'd just delivered.

I released Greninja and ordered it to put out the fire before it grew to uncontrollable levels. It handled the fire easily enough, even had time to taunt Infernape a little. The monkey didn't seem to want to get into a fight, even though I had a feeling it could hold its ground against my Water-Type, disadvantage or not. Greninja was still young and inexperienced, but it was stubborn and dead set on improving.

It reminded me a little of myself these days. Maybe I should train a little more with it the next few weeks. I put it on my to-do list.

I examined my body quickly, noting nothing wrong or disfigured, and then turned my focus back to Riley. He fished out his Poké Ball for Infernape and returned the Pokémon before a fight broke out between it and Greninja. The fire left behind by my little training exercise was gone now, and Greninja jumped over to my side, looking at me for my next order.

"The others are in the forest," I said, pointing in the direction I knew my Pokémon were in. "Thank you, Greninja."

My Pokémon nodded and croaked, nuzzling its head against my shoulder before taking off. I smiled at its back; my eyes probably glinted with a rare affection. The big, blue frog put on a hard shell, but underneath all that muscles and hard-ass attitude was one of the most loving souls among Pokémon I'd ever met.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I said, turning my eyes away from my frog. "Great actually, no tiredness or pain – just…"

"Just?" Riley tilted his face, studying me for any sign of weakness that I usually displayed. "What?"

"I dunno…" I had no words to describe how I felt, the power surged I'd gained suddenly during the fight had left me, but – somehow it was still there, just waiting to be called upon. I'd never been so… in sync with Aura before. It was a nice and scary feeling all at the same time. "I feel… _empowered_."

A heavy pause rested between us. "Good," Riley finally said. "That's good."

I must have imagined it, but I could have sworn he looked troubled – scared even.

* * *

_It's beautiful. That shade of blue, that intoxicating color – the power! Power has a way of turning even the best humans into something ugly and all too terrifying. My intention might have been good. Hell, they still are – at least for a part of me… _

_But, man, it's just not letting up anymore. I've two sides inside of me, and there are at war with each other. All part of the gig I now command, I guess. Wouldn't be the first time a brave yet foolish soul tried to bite off more than he could chew. _

_Am I destined to have the abilities I have, or is something else at work here? Things are falling beyond my control. I need help, Drew. Lance! You need to step in here. Be a man! Take a stand! I know you're behind that window, I can see you… sense you. _

_I can't do this alone, not anymore. He's too strong – too powerful._

_What do all men with power want, Lance? Huh? You know the answer just as well as I do. They want more. It's a vicious circle that you can never escape from. Next time it won't just be Silph Co. he attacks. He'll want more, too._

_Power corrupts. _

_I am beset with the problems of this world, and I don't know if I will make it in time. Time for what? I don't know. Giovanni and his Super-Pokémon program perhaps. Maybe the final clash with __**him**__, the man who controls the free Pokémon, the man that makes them a united horde of mindless beasts dead set on destruction. _

_Whatever comes next, I have to be ready. _We_ have to be ready. The world hangs in the balance of my evolution, Drew. Don't ask, I don't have an answer, but I'll find one. _

_A man's character is measured in how well he can handle gaining power. Power, in this world, is measured by how many you can kill – or get others to kill for you. I guess I wasn't better than the next guy __– but, man, I am powerful__… and that's just sad_. 

_But I will change that. _

_A long time ago I sought out to change just that. It was dreams of grandeur. Nothing more than a boy's dream to save the world._

_But then I stumbled upon _it_. The power to change the way our world works. I intend to use it, as I've done since I first discovered this… this weapon out there in the wastelands with Riley._

_But am I right? Do I have the right to use a power so destructive that it can break the world at the seams, a power Arceus forbid in the Old Days?_

_YES!_

_Because who the fuck should stop me, Drew? Look at me, look at us! Lance, Giovanni, every Gym Leader and Elite Four member of Kanto – every man and woman that _matters _in this game of ours is behind that window, staring in at us with those delightfully frighten gazes. Not a single one of them had the balls to go in here and talk to me. They had to send the low-level and severely underpaid psychiatrist to do the job because they were afraid I was gonna snap them like a twig._

_What does that tell you? You're the educated one here; I don't have to hold your hand through it all, do I? _

_They're smart – heh. That was actually funny, Drew. You cracked a joke! Sadly, it was a stupid joke. They're not smart; they're a bunch of fucking cowards. Cowards, who don't deserve any of the titles they've been given._

_Well, expect the one I've given to Giovanni. It's spelled d-i-c-k-h-e-a-d. He deserves that one._

_I can tell you exactly what he's thinking now from behind that mirror. He's trying to remember me from what little I've given away of my past. He knows he killed my mother, he knows that I tried to avenge her. But you see, the funny part – and the sad part, too, I guess – is he still has no clue who I am._

_Imagine how many kills and threats on your life it takes to forget something like that. It's like us forgetting what socks we wore Thursday two weeks ago – I actually remember that, but I'm cheating… _

_But the saddest thing is that everyone he shares the room with knows that I speak the true, and nobody of them – not even Lance, Drew – dares to do anything about it. Hell, if it wasn't because I needed Lance and the considerable power he still wields, I would blast you all to pieces just to end him. I would fucking kill you all, Drew, if it meant killing Giovanni, too. _

_Do I have the right to use this power to see it all to the end, at whatever cost? _

_Maybe not, but I'm gonna do it._

_I'm Red – Aura Guardian extraordinary._

_Just watch me!_

_You're either with me or in my way, Lance. What will it be?_

* * *

"C'mon Ash, we've to get to the top before sundown!" Riley shouted over his shoulder, his shadow barely visible through the harsh wind and biting snow.

I couldn't even answer him, I was freezing all over. My body ragged with pained breaths, the cold mountain air burning my lungs. I kept the rope that connected me to Riley locked tightly in my fist – or maybe my hand was just frozen stuck. In the blizzard, losing sight of Riley would mean my death.

I missed Pikachu on my shoulder. The little mouse hid inside its Poké Ball. It had been a hard battle getting it to go inside the Ball, but when it saw what we had to journey through it almost recalled itself.

Right now I wished I had a Poké Ball to hide in.

Riley pulled at the rope. "Get your ass in gear, Ash," he yelled again. "If the sun goes down before we reach shelter, we'll die!"

_But no pressure, Ash, _I thought. God, I missed some protection against the cold. Riley's huge jacket ignited some envy in me. Where he had gotten it from I had no idea, maybe he'd stashed it somewhere in the forest. I was trekking in the knee high snow in my armor and normal clothes, a large fur from an Ursaring – our dinner last night – slung over my shoulders.

I killed that beast myself, Drew – a sphere of energy surging through the heart in a second. Just thought you should know.

I heaved my foot free of the snow and took another long step, my bones and teeth shaking and rattling, and fuck, I hated snow. Riley was cutting through the landscape easily, his thin and seemingly weak body working better than it had any right to.

Fuck that, too.

I hugged myself further into the brown fur, protecting me from the cold somewhat. It was funny how one step could become so hard to perform, like those simple task in life suddenly turned into a living nightmare. Nightmares you don't want to face, but you have to face them, man – otherwise they will eat you up inside.

I drew my hand out from the fur, a blue sun appearing in my hand as if out of thin air. I hoped it would give my hand some warmth, hoped that it would make my hand stop shaking so much. That it would take away the pain – it didn't, but that didn't matter anyway. The pain was fleeting now, and that wasn't a good thing. It meant frostbites, which meant I was slowly losing my fingers – and that could kinda ruin my day.

Riley stopped and waited for me to catch up, as he had done most of the day. He held his hand out. "Can I see that?" he asked.

It wasn't a question.

I held my hand out without a word, letting him inspect it. I didn't need to be a doctor to know what was wrong; the dark blue fingertips were enough indication for me.

"Frostbite…" he mumbled to himself, before releasing my hand. "We've to seek shelter now, or you'll end up losing that hand."

I nodded mutely, not trusting myself to speak clearly.

A terrifying howl split the scorched evening sky.

I had a moment to take in the howl, a moment where my limps and bones gained warmth from the surge of adrenalin flashing through my veins. Footsteps tramped in the snow, moving faster than any human could ever move in these conditions, but not _that_ fast for a Pokémon standards.

I saw a small, hunched figure move in between me and Riley, its identity hidden from my eyes through the thick layer of snow falling around me. I heard Riley shout out, and saw him lose his footing. Then the rope went limp in my cold, yet movable left hand, and all I could think about was how much I fucking hated snowy mountains.

It had just separated me from Riley – effectively.

All kinds of warning signs flashed through my mind, telling me to act before something acted on me, but it was already too late.

Something small but powerful tackled me. I was sent rolling and _hurting_ down the side of the mountain, rocks and ice digging into my body. My armor saved me from dying; dulling every hit I took in my fall. And then my now hot and white right hand caught around a sharp stone, the object biting into the unprotected flesh and drawing blood.

And for second I felt lucky to be alive, Drew, that sharp edge could've just as easily pierced through my armor and abdomen. But it didn't. I was still alive, still kicking, and I gained my feet, surprised and fucking pissed.

The fucker that pushed me came tumbling down after me, looking in no way in control of what it was doing. I shook the curtain of fur of me; it had become all tangled up doing the fall, and spat snow, dirt and blood out of my mouth.

I squinted my eyes through the howling wind, catching sight of my target. Then I lifted my hands and suppressed fucking Aura at the running and falling fucker. Like bullets from a machinegun, my Aura Spheres blasted through the falling snow, burning it away in their wake, and hit the ground like meteors.

I set the snow on fire, creating craters big enough to swallow me everywhere. But the blasted Pokémon kept falling and _evading_ every devastating attack I flung at it. I told myself it was all luck, and blasted some more. The wind picked up around me, ruffling my hair and clothes, and I could see a blue aura surrounding me, making me lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. The ground beneath me shook and cracked, snow gliding away from me as if afraid of my power.

Have I ever told you I'm a badass, Drew?

But the little fucker just kept on dodging, and I realized that it was not just luck – it wasn't luck at all, really. I dropped my power-attack, tightening my fist and knocking them together.

A deep dong – resembling the sound of a church bell – resonated from my being when my fists met, and with the sound came _Aura_. A grotesque, impenetrable layer of dark-blue energy field _rippled_ out of my whole body. A dome crackled around me like thunder, and I was _protected_.

And not a moment too soon. The Pokémon stopped pretending; flying through the air as if it had wings. It was so fast that I thought it would break through my shield and kill me. But then it met my power and it was stopped and burned.

The power of my shield lashed back at the creature, sending it _tumbling out of control_ for real this time. A thin beam of Aura had left my shield and followed its direction, striking like a whip at the fallen Pokémon, all guided by my intent.

I kept lashing at it, and the Pokémon kept grunting in pain, but it didn't back down. It kept trying to stand up, to fight back. I respected that – it reminded me a little of myself.

Then the light of my Aura-whip caught the Pokémon, and I got my first look at the grisly beast.

It was a dinosaur.

It wasn't really a dinosaur, of course. It was a Pokémon that looked and acted like a dinosaur. A miniature Tyrannosaurus with a body seemingly made of stone – it wasn't really stone, of course, just something that looked and felt like stone. It was a grayish-brown color except for its abdomen and lower jaw, which was a lighter grey color. It had black eyes, and those eyes looked at me with murder in them.

I smiled, quite delighted. "It's a Tyrunt. Cool."

But it wasn't cool, it was cold. Tyrunt was a Stone and Dragon Type; it hated the ice and snow just as much as I did. It was small and way too thin, how it had even survived in these conditions I had no idea. But I was gonna save it. I'd just found my next Pokémon.

"Good little Tyrunt," I whispered to it, dropping my attack and shield. It all died down instantly, wind and snow and Aura all disappeared. "I'm gonna give you a warm place to rest, don't worry…"

I withdrew a new Poké Ball, clicking it large and wishing for my cap to complete the ritual. "Oh well, it'll have to do without this time."

I walked closer to it with measured step, noting the gashes I had caused along its small frame. It looked angry and fearful all at the same time, with a note of curiosity hidden behind its animalistic eyes. "You were just hungry, weren't you?" I asked it. It just tilted its head to the side, confused. "That's why you attacked us before. You wanted some food."

You wonder why I talked to it, right, buddy? Well, it gives a good foundation for our coming relationship. Didn't that ship sail when I beat it to a pulp? Nobody likes a smartass, shrink.

It was snapping its jaws and growling in the back of its throat when I crouched down to its level. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing if you let it consume you – or so I've been told…"

Oak had explained it to me once upon a time. A Pokémon's energy was stored inside the Poké Ball, and that energy would then slowly recharge until it reached its full potential. It was a very complex procedure that I didn't really understand – but that didn't matter here, I knew how to use it.

"Stay still…" I whispered, and touched the Pokémon with the ball, taking care to avoid its sharp fangs.

It disappeared in a red light. Holding my breath, I waited for the Ball to stop shaking, the cold air all but forgotten. And then it beeped and stopped moving.

"Yes…"

* * *

_Yeah, that's the same Tyrunt that evolved in Vermillion. Don't worry, I'm working on it. So, what else do you want to know? I've run you through some of my training, and my capabilities. I've kept some secrets – but then again, don't we all? _

_The snowy mountain was part of a mountain range that involved Mt. Silver. It was over three thousands kilometer, all mountains put together. Luckily, we only had to pass that one, and then it was down to a little warmer climate again._

_But, man, it was harsh. I found Riley with my Aura after the attack. Together we camped for the night and set off for the top of the mountain at the break of dawn. _

_There is something calming about the mountains, minimal conflict, no enemies turned mad, no fucking Pokémon and Crime Lords out for my head. Drew, I like the quietness, I don't do this because I want to, I do this so that nobody else has to. _

_I turned the whole world upside down because if I didn't do it somebody else would, and that somebody might not be as lenient as me._

_I hear the whispers in the shadows, the blissful, fearful whispers of dark and terrible secrets that promise nothing but sorrow. I feel their terror at the very sight of me, Drew. I know that some things can never be taken back._

_But ask yourself this: what would you have done without me? _

_Given up, you'd all have given in to the rapture of a world bathed in fire. Why do you think I have any fans? They like the Armageddon – they revel in it. I'm not insane, at least not completely. I don't want to kill and destroy, even though some… assholes beg to differ._

_I don't see an end to the greater war yet, but I see an end to this conflict. I need an army, every Pokémon Ranger, every G-man, every trainer of the Indigo Plateau. We can set this right…_

_Our enemy is… confused._

* * *

"Do you ever miss home?"

I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, and looked at Riley from the corner of my eye. "I miss some things but… no… not really."

Riley sat against the wall of the cave we had camped in for the night. I could hear the waterfall outside, its water curtain hiding us from the outside world. We left behind the mountain a couple of days now, the snowy fields being replaced with another forest.

Riley's gaze studied me. "I'm not by any means an expert, but… you didn't have a happy childhood, did you?"

"I'm twenty-four years old," I said, keeping my tone as light as possible. "If I had a happy childhood would I be out here?"

Riley hummed. "Noted…"

I turned on my side and tried to go back to sleep, but something was nagging at me. I sighed to myself, I didn't really care but Riley seemed in one of those mood. "What about you?" I asked, and tried to put as much sincerity as possible in my question. "Got any family back home?"

My feinted sincerity must have looked sincere, or maybe he just didn't care. "No… no, I'm an orphan."

"Oh?"

"Yeah…" he laughed, it was a sad, sad laugh tinged with bitterness. It sounded like an old man's laugh, an old man broken by regret and great loss. "I grew up in small town – you know how that is," he said and paused. "It was nice town… a cozy little place where everyone knew each other. I had a good childhood, sheltered from the outside world, which is rare these days – then it all caught up with us, I guess. No good deed goes unpunished…"

I sat up in my sleeping back and took notice. I had never seen Riley so sad and… human before – there was always this cool mask of indifference no matter if I was bleeding to death or just eating dinner. "What happened?"

"We were attacked by some wandering thieves." He took a drink of his new filled bottle, greasing his constantly hoarse voice. "They thought we had Poké Balls they could use – my father had two. They killed my father and his Pokémon, and took the Poké Balls with them. I don't know what they did to my mother and I don't want to speculate… but I can't stop myself from doing so from time to time. Her body was found a week later, she had been… they had…" he paused, taking deep breaths and closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the sadness had been replaced by some of the usual coolness. "They burned our houses down. They took everything they needed and disposed of everything else – all for some extra Poké Balls…"

"How did you survive?"

"I don't know. One minute my father is screaming and fighting, fire and death everywhere… the next I wake up beside a little monkey."

"Infernape?" I asked.

Riley shook his head, smiling a little more genuinely this time – as he always did whenever Infernape was mentioned. "It was a Chimchar back then. There were tracks from where it had dragged me out of the wreckage."

I smiled; I remembered all the times Pikachu had pulled me out of trouble. "What about a wife – kids of your own?"

He shook his head and leaned back, his smile leaving his face again. Same cool mask in place. "Ask yourself that, Ash," he replied. "You know a wife or kids would never fit in with the lives we're living."

I frowned. "It could – maybe," I said, my voice heavy with unhidden doubt.

"No, it really couldn't. We'd either get them killed, or they'd realize just how fucked up we really are."

The old Riley was back, the unapproachable dude was in place, and I turned around in my sleeping back, knowing the conversation was over.

"We'll reach the Tree by the end of the week," he said behind me. I could hear him getting into his own sleeping back. "I hope you're ready… for everybody's sake."

I didn't answer him, Drew, but I felt terrified because if I wasn't ready everything I'd worked for would come undone. And I would be damned for it.


	3. Immortal Deeds

**Disclaimer****: **I own nothing. I think I wrote that before...

**A/N****: **I finished the third chapter faster than I thought I would. Hopefully, it turned out alright. And thank you to waterangelphoenix and Smu, your reviews means a lot.

Please, enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

**Immortal Deeds**

_And then there it was, turning around lazily  
and staring at me with those inhuman  
red eyes and all I could think about was  
how dead I was, but it didn't kill me.  
_He _saved me_

_-Anonymous _

"You have to realize, Ash," Riley said, "that there is no turning back. Once we enter the Tree's domain, we're either dead or get accepted."

"I understand," I said absentmindedly, watching the sun rise above the trees, I enjoyed the light summer breeze licking the skin on my forehead. The armor I was wearing felt heavy upon my frame, having gone so long without during my training, and I adjusted it, trying to cover up the chunk missing in the right side of my abdomen.

When had it become so damaged?

"Ash…" Riley rolled his eyes. "You won't be needing that here…"

"Call it an extra insurance."

Riley sighed, and I sensed he was getting tired of my stubbornness. "It will be of no use," he said, his eyes focused on the Tree a couple hundred meters in front of us. "The Tree accepts us or it kills us – it's that simple."

"I refuse to believe that it can't be fought if necessary," I replied, because dammit I would fight it if I had to.

"And there you have the problem." Riley stopped, a cold glare turned on me, his face blotching red with anger. "You have to choose your fights. You can't keep running around playing cowboy, shooting everything that looks funny at you!"

"I'm not gonna attack it – just ready to defend myself if the need should arise."

"It's too strong for that, though," Riley said. "The Tree has been around… forever, man. It's been here since the beginning of all – what does that tell you?"

"That it's one old fucker." I frowned. "And we still don't know if that's even true. In Sinnoh they pray to Arceus, here in Kanto they pray to the Three Birds, and in another region they pray to some other superstition – I'm not gonna bow down to it just because some old geezer says it's a fucking Deity. I don't work like that. You know me…"

"Look at it." Riley gestured wildly to the Tree, his eyes looking imploringly at me. "Take a fucking look at the thing and tell me that it could not crush you at will."

I looked up at the Tree, seeing the most incredible thing in my life, but I wouldn't be shaken by its obvious might. "It's a… an imposing sight, but it's just a Tree – it can be fought if-"

"Can't you feel it?" Riley said, interrupting me. There was something almost, but not quite, manic about his eyes. They burned blue fire. "The energy – _the power_… can't you feel what we're about to enter?"

"Of course I can," I answered, my voice swift and sure, keeping my façade of bravado. "But I refuse to believe that you can't beat it."

"You'll never learn!" Riley whispered, shaking his head. "Come on, we've an appointment with Destiny – and she's most definitely a bitch."

We trekked onwards in silence, our eyes alert and bodies tensed as we arrived at a field of overgrown grass. I didn't have good experiences with tall grass, I still remembered the day I met Riley all those months and years ago. The memories of fire and death still bled through my mind like raw bloody murder – a hidden omen of the time to come, of the trials to face, and all the fucked up chaos I'd to conquer if I wanted to make a difference.

Fucking destiny of the Chosen One – I don't want that faith.

I don't want that suffering, man – it wanted me…

The Tree stood majestically beyond the field, its imposing form towering over us like a beacon of might. There was something magical about the thing. It drew you in, made you forget what was wrong with your life and just enjoyed the moment of silence, like nothing else mattered.

My conscience was quiet – something it hadn't been in a long time.

The size of a big fucking mountain, the trunk of the Tree shot up so high it looked like it touched outer space. Pillars of branches arched in bowed angles out from the trunk, creating cliffs of twigs. It looked like platforms, and I thought I saw a Pokémon flying off from one of the lower branches – its tail leaving a golden glow behind. I must have imagined that…

Curtains of water felt down from the lower twigs, beautiful crystal-blue drops that joined with the rivers in front of us. Clouds hugged the Tree, obscuring the top from my view. The mountains in the background looked small compared to this... Deity – yeah, Riley was right. It probably was a Deity – setting the stage for its glorious presence.

I swallowed thickly, feeling no sense in hiding my awed induced fear this time. Oh yeah, Riley, I felt the power coming of this thing alright, and it scared the shit out of me.

I tore my eyes away from the sight before it consumed me and breached the tall grass, Riley following close behind me. Together, we pushed onwards through the unknown dangers. "Keep your ears sharp, Pikachu," I said to the little Pokémon creeping at my side. "This is a perfect spot for hunters."

A quiet, high-pitched growl slipped past Pikachu's lips in response, as it crawled on all four. Briefly, it shot tendrils of electricity along its yellow fur, making it stand on end and signaling its understanding.

"Good, good." I gave the Pokémon a quick, affectionate smile before focusing on the path we were walking. Fuck, I felt exposed; this scenario seemed far too recognizable for comfort. My senses were on high alert, the Aura coursing through my body, scanning everything my eyes couldn't see; it had become capable of picking up any threat.

So far I'd found nothing worth noting. The day had been unusually quiet so far – another fucking déjà vu. I hadn't run into any wild Pokémon turned mad like the day I met Riley, but there hadn't been a single day gone by without something trying to kill me. It was how a forest worked, the strongest survives and all that shit.

So it might be silent now, but it could change in a split second, especially in an area with grass such as this. Without me, Riley would never see anything coming before it was too late.

And then it happened, the circumstances _changed_. It all changed so fast I caught myself thinking it had always been like that, that we'd been surrounded the whole time and I, for some odd reason, was incapable of tracking it.

Appearing out of thin air, I felt numerous creatures surround us. The grass blocked their forms for my eyes, but my Aura could see them just find, crawling like the fucking reaper amongst the grass. They circled us, a perimeter enclosed around us, and I was the only one that knew it.

I closed my eyes, and without having to focus, my Aura turned my vision blue. I followed the little beasts' progress in the grass, noticing there species and numbers, weaknesses and strengths. We were about to be attacked by some motherfuckers. Again.

Oddly enough, I didn't feel any fear about fighting them this time. I felt confident – it's all in the palms, buddy, oh yeah. I was the one who had gone through blizzard and fire to be here, I was the one who had transcended beyond my limitations. These fuckers were just some wild hunters of the forest, lazy beings who were born with their power. They hadn't tasted fear or desperation. They didn't know what it meant to fight every step of the way just to get somewhere, to be someone.

I was a radar seeking out enemies; I was a gun pulling my own trigger. If push came to shove I'd show them just what I was capable of, I would fucking destroy it all just to get a move on. I'd roll with the dice, already knowing the outcome.

We were surrounded.

We were outnumbered.

We were fucked.

And I felt fucking fantastic!

Was that a bad thing? Don't answer that…

Beyond the grassy field and heavy aroma of morning spring, trees lined along each other, providing a perfect hiding spot for lurkers. The spots were occupied by big, strong – and tasty – Ursarings. That actually scared me a little; the Ursaring specie wasn't known as a friendly one, and there was a fuck ton of them just standing there. But something wasn't right; if the Ursaring wanted to harm us they would have attacked us already. They had zero sense of strategy unless it involved tearing everything the fuck apart.

The Pokémon that circled us in the grass kept their distance, too. I felt no ill intentions coming off of them. They almost acted like…

No, it couldn't be. They were acting far too calmly, the insanity missing from their cold, dead eyes…

God, that day still haunted me.

"We're surrounded," I said, keeping my voice as low as possible so as to not startle the Pokémon nearby. "Ten feet to the nearest Pokémon. They're oddly serene."

"What?" Riley looked befuddled, his gaze moving to and fro in the grass. "I didn't hear anything…"

I waved my hand carelessly around us, feeling Riley's eyes on me. "Different Pokémon are surrounding us – mostly Bug Types – they don't seem to hold any ill intent so far. Oh, and we have a flock of Ursaring keeping watch from the trees over there," I said, my eyes closed. My Aura was doing the watching for me.

Riley looked rigid with fear behind me, scared and out of place, his eyes going back and forth in the grass – hadn't he done this before? He met me in a forest; he must have crossed ways with wild Pokémon before.

"You okay, man?" I asked.

"I had an Ursaring once," Riley said, obviously struggling to get his normal composure back. He succeed partly, his normal bland mask back to a degree. "It was killed by a group of Pokémon trainers who wanted to steal it."

"Team Rocket?" I guessed a little absentmindedly, most of my mind wondering just what the fuck was gonna happen to us this time. The Pokémon parted in front of me, opening the way to… the Tree!

And then it hit me. The Pokémon's weird behavior, the aura about them and the Tree. They were its protectors. They were judging us.

"No," Riley was saying behind me, walking closer to me than he usually did. "It was some new trainers. They thought the world belonged to them after they got their starter Pokémon."

"Their starter Pokémon was capable of killing an Ursaring?"

"Rich kids," Riley grunted. "Money talks, their starter Pokémon was a Gyarados. I think they got it from their parents. One minute they demanded I handed over my Pokémon if I knew what was good for me, the next this giant thing is tearing the place apart."

I'd seen and experienced similar things once upon a time; it felt like a different life now. It wasn't that unusual for trainers to lose control of their Pokémon, which was understandable considering the kind of power an average Pokémon had. My Butterfree's death during the Hoenn League had been pretty macabre, and that had been the result of a Pokémon disobeying its trainer.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I know how it is to lose a Pokémon."

"Don't be sorry. It just made me stronger."

I opened my eyes and looked directly at where I knew a Raticate was waiting. Concealing my wariness and fear with a cool glare, I started walking, feeling Riley move behind me. We passed through the Pokémon, their silent gazes guiding us towards our destination.

We exited the tall grass and came upon a little stream, the water flowing gentle and reflecting the morning sun. I couldn't see where it ended or where it began, but I could imagine it ran around the Tree, somehow connected to the waterfall falling above.

A line of small, black stones lay in the water, creating a little path to cross the stream. Pokémon came out of the grass and flocked around us, all of them staring at me with those seeking gazes. I caught eye with an Aipom. Normally a very mischievous Pokémon but this one looked… wise and calculating, its eyes searching my being for bad intentions. Or at least it felt that way, Drew.

Then it nodded and stepped back, and I felt like I'd just passed some test. I had. I often, even to this day, wonder why it let me past. It must have seen something even I can't see – because I certainly wouldn't have let me in.

"It's been over a thousand years," I said in a breath-less whisper, looking at the Tree. "A thousand years since man last lay eyes on this wonder, so long time since the last man stepped into this – gateway…"

"The last human who entered it became a legend," Riley said, rummaging in his pocket. "Maybe we'll be remembered, too."

_Sir Aaron,_ I thought, watching with idle interest at Riley as he sifted through his pockets for something. He took out a small, greyish brown device and pushed on the blue button on the top of it. It beeped robotically, and I felt a small pulse of energy vibrating from it, sending it into the Tree.

We waited in silence. I looked curiously – and with growing excitement – at the device, while Riley studied the thing intently, waiting for some kind of message, it seemed. I kept my silence because it felt like one of those moments where Riley wanted to work in silence. Normally, I'd have taunted him to pass the time, for no other reason than it gave me some cheap amusement. But with the Tree right beside us I felt that alienating me with him now wouldn't be such a good idea.

The thing beeped again and the dead screen flashed to life, displaying some kind of infrastructure that I could dimly make out to be a very, very detailed map of the Tree.

I stared at the screen wide-eyed, not able to hide my excitement anymore. "What is that thing?" I whispered.

Riley, who had been staring speculative on the screen, looked up at me. "A scanning device," he said dryly.

_I know that, you fucker,_ I thought but didn't say… this time. "Where did you buy it?" I asked, looking between the device and Riley. "Silph Co.?"

An ugly shadow passed Riley's stoic face so fast I almost didn't catch it; I almost caught the meaning behind it, too, but it didn't make any sense. Was it something I said...?

I saw raw hatred. _Fucking raw hatred _could burn the world if it was left unchecked, man. Raw hatred would consume everything in its path – it knew nothing but what had created it. Pain and suffering – chaos…

"No. I created it myself," he said, he tried to hide the tone of pride but I'd been around him enough to catch it.

I blinked. "I didn't know you could do that?"

Riley frowned, looking at me weirdly, his eyes holding barely concealed distrust. "What's it to you?"

I ignored his behavior; having grown used to it by now, and reached into my pocket and drew a card-shaped device out. It had a holographic center, with black circle surrounding it. I pulled at the ends, separating them from each other and revealing a blank screen display.

"I have a thing for technology," I grinned, staring affectionate at the device. "I don't use it much anymore, but it has served me well."

Riley peered at the device in my hand with interest. "Hmm, a Pokédex. Made by the esteemed Professor Samuel Oak, right?"

"Yeah… fantastic machine," I said. "It's not just a Pokédex, though."

"No?"

I smiled, shaking my head – oh, this badboy was a state-of-the-art equipment, scanning feedback functions beyond a normal Pokédex capability, and a lot of other stuff I didn't know or care about. "This little guy has a communication feature, making it capable of long distance call across the globe," I said, it could've become useful if I'd ever felt the need to use it. "It can even bypass that restriction Unova set up some years ago if necessary – without being traced, of course."

"Unova took those restrictions down a couple of months before I met you," Riley said.

"The war ended, I know." I was still smiling my goddamn lazy smile. It was a front more than anything – a fake, brave mask put on to hide how fucking scared I was of the giant thing standing in front of me. "I was just bragging. What did you do?" I asked, gesturing to the device in Riley's hand.

"I scanned the Tree," he said, showing me the display. "You're not the only one with a scanner. Here, have a look."

I took the device from Riley's hand. It was surprisingly heavy, much more than my Pokédex even though they were roughly the same size. It was made of some kind of tree, its edges held together by some form of clotted black stone, the screen seemed to be made of plastic.

It looked very primitive.

"I made it out here," Riley explained when I weighted it up and down in my hand. "I didn't have the right material or compound to minimize the weight – and no lab resources to build it with, so be careful, it's not particularly sturdy."

I nodded, _sir, yes sir,_ looking at the screen again. It showed the Tree, tendrils running through it from bottom to top. It presented access-points, exit-points, a description of the environment inside the tree – that I understood nada of – and dots and lines that kept flickering in and out of existence.

"What are they?" I asked, indicating to the many lines and dots that kept reappearing and disappearing.

"Could be anything," Riley answered, taking back the scanning device. "Power-lines, traps, Pokémon, whatever keeps the Tree running. Energy sources that keeps the Tree safe – keep it _alive_."

_How the fuck do you know so much,_ I caught myself wondering. For a man who had never been inside the Tree, and almost shrieked like a girl whenever a wild Pokémon looked at him funny, he sure knew his way around… "Those things keep the Tree alive?" I asked instead because I was too chickenshit to ask anything that _mattered_.

"Very, very simplified, but yes. The Tree probably has a whole failsafe-system if anything should happen to its main power source – it would surprise me if it hadn't."

I looked around us, seeing nothing and everything, friend and potential foes – a fuck ton of potential foes – this could all get down to some serious shit. The Pokémon were watching us from the Trees now, taking their distance from us to let us think… I thought. I could see Pokémon from inside the Tree, too, and behind the bushes, from the small river that ran down through the Tree, in the tall grass behind us – fucking everywhere! Waiting, _calculating_, analyzing us. Analyzing me…

Were we allowed to pass? Was _I_ allowed to pass? I could see this plan get all kinds of fucked up in a few seconds if the Tree or the Pokémon protecting it didn't find me worthy.

And fuck what Riley said, I was gonna fight for it.

Judging, unblinking gazes rested heavily upon me, and I narrowed my eyes, staring back at them defiantly. I flexed my fingers and readied myself for the unexpected – or should I say the expected, because I was fucking expecting a nerve-wracking fight. Funnily, I wouldn't really mind a fight; it would be a perfect test. I could take them; I could take them all on – even the Tree.

Fuck the Tree.

The Tree…

The Tree cast its immense impression of otherworldly power upon me, as if to show just how awesome it was. The sheer size of the thing actually blocked the sunlight, leaving shadows for its protectors to hide in. The branches of Wailord proportions were swaying in a nonexistent wind, it looked like it was gonna reach for me…

I sighed, hating the awe and fear coursing through my blood at the mere sight of it; I should be immune to its power. One of its kind, not a fucking servant to a king. _Definitely fuck the Tree…_

In the trunk of the Tree was a giant hole caved in a conical shape, acting as an entrance to a different world beyond time and space, a _gateway _through Time and Space. And didn't that just sound marvelous and fantastic to you, Drew? Can someone hear my fucking prayers!

I clipped a Poké Ball from my belt and released the Pokémon inside.

Out of the brilliant white light emerged a huge, black, bipedal Pokémon covered in thick silver-colored armor, its head hidden underneath a skull from… something fucking large. Its blue eyes were shimmering with malicious intent; the thick muscles on its hind legs bulged and tensed with its every movement. My Aggron roared to life, shaking the ground beneath it, and I thought I detected some of the Pokémon move uneasily behind me. It made me smile; they shouldn't fear this Pokémon.

They should fear _me_.

"Hello Aggron," I said warmly, beckoning the great Pokémon down to me. It crouched down, painting with its long and dry tongue hanging out. I smiled _lovingly_ – you heard me, Drew, _lovingly_ – and patted the huge and benign being, mindful of the horns on the skull that leaked some kind of poison – I didn't care for a fever now. "We're about to explore this Tree here; think you can help us out?"

It nodded its head eagerly, wide-eyed in its excitement. I smiled and turned back to Riley. "Okay, I'm – what're you doing?"

Riley was breathing hard, standing some distance from me now and staring in disbelief between the Pokémon and me. "That's an – Aggron…"

I blinked and looked at my Pokémon. "Oh my fucking god, I think you might be right," I said, putting my hand in front of my mouth in abject horror. "What are we gonna do, _what are we gonna do_? No shit, Sherlock!"

"A fucking Aggron, Ash!" Aggron, probably not liking the tone, turned on Riley and growled, barring its teeth. There was no sign of the benign being standing there a second ago. "Woah, woah, easy – Ash you can't be serious! Recall it! You have to recall it!"

"Um…" I considered it… "No." For about two seconds. "Don't worry, it won't do anything unless I tell it to – or someone manage to piss it off enough…"

Riley looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "Have you even looked at the thing? There is a reason no Pokémon trainers catch an Aron anymore, Ash. Did you know that Aggron is the Pokémon that is statistically proved to be the most disloyal Pokémon once caught? It's the Pokémon that most often kills its master."

"Yes," I said, letting a mischievous grin playing on my lips. "That's why I knew I needed to have one."

"You're crazy." Riley shook his head, stepping far beside the growling Aggron without taking his eyes of it and walked over to the entrance. He sighed, obviously bracing himself. "Here goes nothing…"

And just like that he stepped through.

I followed him with Pikachu and Aggron by my side, and together we became the first two humans to enter the Tree of Beginning in a millennium.

* * *

_I don't need a Deity to marvel at the complexity and beauty of the universe I see around me, feel around me. Remember that, man; we're all worth something. Every Pokémon and human _is worth something_. Remember that the next time you turn your back on someone. _

_The Tree had an Aura beyond mere Aura about it, something intangible and unexplainable. If I should give a satisfactory explanation it would sound along these lines: It was big and powerful, I was small and insignificant – short and to the point, Drew, short and to the fucked up bleeding matter..._

_I was once bit by a Seviper. After five days of agonizing pain, it died. A harmless joke… that is until you start looking for the hidden message, and let me tell you, it's not that hidden._

_When you face something so great, so… otherworldly it changes you. I saw a glimpse of the Devil within me, I saw the monster lurking at the edge of my conscious, the monster I've been repressing every day since my mother past over. We are at war with madness turned real, Drew, but I wage my greatest war inside myself – and I am afraid. Because sometimes I fear the other side might be right…_

_I mean, take a look at what has happened in the last couple of weeks. The world keeps pushing on us without mercy, plunging us in misery and despair. And then I stood up and cried out injustice, and look what the world did. It adjusted its perfectly tailored suit, pointed its finger at me, and screamed – EVIL!_

_I'm not here to file a complaint, Drew; I'm not here to make friends. We're not friends; we will never be friends. Because you're everything I hate about this world. You're like those people who made it possible for someone like Giovanni to gain so much power. We've met before, you probably don't remember. _

_Okay, the next time you make that nervous gesture – yes, that one – the next time you flick that freakishly green hair of yours… I'm gonna snap of your hand. Got it? Good._

_So… heh… let's get a move on._

* * *

I closed my eyes as we stepped into the wooden plateau, bracing myself for the coming impact of whatever protection the entrance to the Tree had, with Aura it could be anything.

Silence…

I tentatively opened my eyes and looked around. Nothing. I noted the brown wooden walls of the entrance hall, enticing blue crystals engraved into them randomly, all of them in different sizes and shapes. I could see two holes carved in the wall at the other side of the room, two rock tunnels stretching into the darkness beyond, hidden by a thin curtain of crystal-blue water that felt from a stream from somewhere I couldn't see or _feel_. It all had this weird aroma about it. It smelled… old and new, all at the same time. I don't know how to explain it, man, just old and new.

My Pokémon looked at me weirdly, probably wondering if the pressure was getting to me. I ignored them for now and, keeping a wary eye at my surroundings, reflexively engaged my Aura, a pulse of energy resonated from my body. The Tree did nothing, no monster came jumping from under the ground, and everything was utter silence.

Then something clicked. Like a needle hitting the floor, lights flashed and walls rumbled, as the crystals was _sucked_ into the walls, the holes flashing blue, bathing us in a _divine_ light.

The Tree shook so violently I almost lost my balance, man. The vibrant blue light was _bending_ in the air like a fucking whip, reaching for us…

I wobbled unsteadily on my feet, but managed to keep my balance through the trembling. I looked around as the Tree stopped moving; noting that the crystal-blue light had found its target, and to my surprise it wasn't reaching for me. It was reaching for Riley, unnatural slow in its movement, as if taunting us.

"What's going on?" Riley asked, even though he looked like he knew exactly what was going on. He's face was ghostly white, all color quickly draining from his skin. "Ash, do something!"

"I can't," I said. The Crystal-lights changed colors, going from blue to an angry red. I became lightly frustrated – only lightly, of course, this guy had his temper under tight control…

"You know what? Fuck this!" I lifted my hand, my palm flashing blue in an instant, and shot an Aura Sphere into the red whip of light.

My blue ball struck the red light, making it flicker in and out of existence. Then the light seemed to grow a fucking mind of its own, changing target and going for me. "Oh shit!" I hunched over and braced myself, throwing my hands in front of me. A thin, shimmering blue energy field poured out of my palms, encompassing me and my companions. I protected us all, Pokémon and human.

I had tested this shield against all the fires and unstoppable forces _this world_ could produce, Drew. Nothing, and I repeat, nothing could break this shield down when I decided to unleash, man. The shield had stood against all odds and more without breaking; it was an unrelenting force, an immoveable power. I was an otherworldly force of mother-fucking-nature!

The red light cut through my shield like it was paper.

"Ah fuck that," I said matter-of-factly before the red whip like light hit me.

I was faintly aware of my shield exploding in a rain of multiple colors, I was faintly aware of Pikachu's and Aggron's cries, I was faintly aware of Riley yelling my name as I felt to my knees. It wasn't pain that lanced through my body, just a pressure on my soul that almost pushed me to insanity.

_The power, it's mind-blowing – too much…_

I brought my hands to my temples, pressing down hard and biting back a scream of agony – okay, now came _pain_. It felt like the Tree was tearing through my very being, my very _soul_, pushing me _beyond_ the brink of insanity in its scrutinizing of my mind. Cool lances of thunder-like pain shot down my spin, making me arch my body. I thought I heard my joints pop.

And then it all stopped. The blue light appeared again, replacing the red rays, and I could once again feel human… for a time.

"Huh?" I blinked, I lay on my back. _When did I fall?_ My body… felt fine. I flexed my limps and rolled my back. Nothing. No pain, no ache – nothing. "What the fuck just happen?" I asked, blinking at the roof. There were green lianas and fresh branches hanging low from it, I noticed. And the roof wasn't wood, but black and grey rocks.

I hadn't noticed that on my entrance into the Tree. Weird…

Suddenly, my vision of the loft was blocked by a familiar face. "It seems… that you passed the Tree's test," Riley said, giving me a hand up. I took it, getting my feet easily. I narrowed my eyes; the blue light wasn't shinning at me anymore, but at the route on our left side.

It was pretty clear what the Tree wanted us to do.

"Think we can trust it?" I asked, as Riley checked his scanner.

"It appears to be the quickest way up," Riley said with no small amount of indecision in his voice. "But is it the safest, I wonder…"

"Fastest is all I need to know."

I strode confidently to the exit – all part of the mask, buddy. Show no weakness, they'll explore every weakness they can sniff out of you, man. A narrow rocky tunnel was visible behind the thin curtain of water that fell over the entrance in gentle waves. In my hands, I held two Aura Spheres, locked and loaded if I should meet any more… resistance.

The Tree wasn't gonna get me with my pants down again, I kept telling myself that I'd just been unprepared, that I still had a fucking chance.

Aggron was quick to follow its Master with Pikachu on its back, and Riley taking up the rear, holding a noticeable distance to the armored Pokémon.

I went through the flimsy liquid curtain, the water soaking my body in cool waves and I shivered in delight, feeling more happy than I'd ever felt since – wait… that was not-

"Wait! The water is – oh…"

The stream of water stopped, revealing the entrance for Riley and my Pokémon to enter. The crystals embedded in the concrete walls flashed to life, lighting up the road ahead and making the stone-walls seem alive.

Hell, they likely were alive. They were probably a different life form, man, beyond human perception. Heh, sounds familiar?

Stranger things had happen before.

Smaller things had tried to kill me before.

* * *

_I've no idea, no fucking clue, man. What are we even talking about? It could have been just another tunnel; it could have been just another pathway made out of stone if it wasn't for those gems adoring the walls. They held something beautiful inside of them. _

_I was mesmerized without really noticing. Those stone of blue were singing to me like a pair of angels offering themselves to me on cold, lonely night. I felt humbled yet powered, I was small and of no importance yet I was part of something big and meaningful. _

_I know it makes no sense, but the Tree will never make sense. It was an impossibility made reality, beautiful in its simplicity, haunting in its complexity. I'm not being so vague because I want to sound mysterious. This was an ethereal setting._

_But let's drop it; you clearly don't believe a word I'm saying anyway. I wish I could allow myself to be as ignorant as you, you know. _

_I wonder if it's really necessary with this, ah, interview. I mean, sometimes people need a dramatic example to get them to act. Maybe I should make an example out of you. No? Then stop being so fucking gullible, and start to think for yourself for change. _

_Stop giving me those answers, Drew! Give me your own opinion, not what Lance instructed you to say. What do you think? What do you believe in, man? Even shrinks got to have dreams, right? _

_You won't talk about you? Why? Ha! I'm not getting into your head? Drew, Drew, Drew, I'm already in your head._

* * *

I ducked under a low rock hanging from the roof and danced my way around the rocky ground, taking in the scratched surface of the walls and dead Pokémon corpses around me, lying like garbage against the walls.

Someone had fought here.

I wrinkled my nose at the sight and the smell. Decay filled the air, and I, tearing a piece of my shirt off, covered my nostrils. Looking ahead, I could see the tunnel going on forever, the blue light becoming an all-consuming mist a couple hundred meters ahead, hiding whatever was beyond.

The mist was Aura, just like everything else in this godforsaken place. Wait, was I pissing on Arceus territory by saying that? Ah well, we only live once.

Riley had finally joined me in the tunnel, a piece of his own clothes protecting him against the smell, his eyes narrowing against the vast fog of blue light. "Well, that's unsettling…" he said, almost trailing off. "I can't see a thing."

Why did his voice shake so goddamn much? What was he afraid of? A little light?

"I can…" I cut through the mystic blue light, my Aura tearing a hole through it easily, granting my senses a visualization of the long tunnel. "…see just fine."

My mind ran along the thin tendril of energy, almost scratching my way through the fog, as I kept an eye on the ground and walls for traps. I searched for Pokémon, too, but came up empty-handed. It was longer than I thought it would be, longer than Riley's scanner had showed – somehow I doubted it was Riley's device that was anything wrong with.

And then I was thrown out of the _link_. Something blocked the road, the connection, and I felt like I'd just run into a concrete wall with full force.

I groaned and twitched, feeling a fierce pounding behind my eyes, raw pain battering away in the back of my head. I let a hand through my hair, feeling blood running through my fingers.

A wound?

I opened my eyes and found the stone-roof meeting my gaze, going in and out of focus as the world swam around me.

I was lying down? Again? Yes, yes, I was.

_Ah fuck it all to Hell!_

Dazed and half-conscious, I rose unsteadily to my feet, feeling the back of my head throb with pain and blood. The world didn't stop swimming; _spinning,_ if anything it got worse. A shadow passed over my face and I felt someone stand behind me, I looked over my shoulder. Riley…

Riley.

I blinked at the man, trying to figure out why my Aura couldn't detect him when he was standing right next to me. It should do it as naturally as breathing.

_He's standing right next to me_, I thought. _Why can't I feel him?_

"Ash? Ash, can you hear me? ASH!"

He sounded like he spoke from a tunnel, the voice echoing in my head.

_Heh… _

_Speaking from a tunnel…_

Oh fuck.

"Ash-"

"Yeah, yeah, fine, fine, I hear you," I muttered, pressing a hand to my forehead. "Could you keep your voice down? I'm right next to you."

"What happened?"

"I thought the Tree had accepted us," I said, getting to my feet easily, my pain erased by my growing anger.

"What happened?" Riley repeated.

"I got fucked over!" I growled, throwing my hands up. "There's something at the end of that tunnel, something I doubt will let us through willingly."

"Well, there's no other way than forward," Riley said, gesturing to the wall of tree behind us, the sealed way we went in from some minutes ago. "Although, we could go back and take the other way, I suppose…"

"No, we go this way." I didn't want to go back just to go another way, felt too much like admitting defeat. "There has got to be a reason for the Tree to put extra defense on this road."

So we went onwards, trekking through the dark tunnel bathed in dim crystal-blue light with bated breaths and alert gazes, my Aura consciously searching before rounding every corner. But my gaze kept lingering at Riley, trying to figure out why I couldn't feel the man.

"What?" Riley snapped, catching me staring at him.

"Nothing," I whispered, quickly turning my focus back on the road.

The tunnel turned steep, and I was well aware that we were making our way upwards now, through twisting tunnels and narrow corridors we climbed the Tree like it was a fucking mountain.

_I hope we don't have to go all the way to the top,_ I thought.

I had no idea what would meet us, no idea what kind of protection that could hurt me like that from such a distance. The energy sources Riley's strange device had picked up before we entered came to mind, but I dismissed them quickly. Those energy sources had been roots infested into the ground, or sources of energy meant to give the Tree life.

This was something different, its intent all too dark and hostile. I had no fucking clue what it was, but I could feel it still, its energy growing as we grew closer to the source.

The road evened out, and while I couldn't see it with my eyes, my Aura could see the flimsy shield – so much like the one I had used against the red beam before in the entrance hall, yet different where it mattered – just fine, like I was standing right next to it.

It felt familiar, eerily so – like staring into a mirror and see your evil twin.

The shield, the weapon of destruction, was pulsing an aura of strength and intimidation at me, all but ordering me to stand down and turn around.

A sane man would have turned, should have turned. It was the only logical choice. No sense in putting your life on the line for something you weren't sure would help you. I wasn't even sure what I was going in to. Why the hell was I even there? Because a man I deep down didn't trust told me it was necessary.

Fuck, I feel like a fool telling you this story, Drew.

"Stay here," I said, turning a quick eye to my Pokémon. "Fire at everything that moves. Got it?"

Aggron rumbled an affirmative, looking, for once, completely serious. Pikachu gave an affirmative cry, too, but it looked troubled, like it wanted object. It was afraid for me.

Riley couldn't take the madness anymore. "You can't control a Pokémon like that!" he whispered furiously, gesturing madly to the Aggron. "It will kill me the moment you disappear out of sight!"

I shook my head, a haughty smirk on my lips. "No, it won't. I ordered it not to," I said.

"And it will mean absolutely nothing the moment you're gone from its line of sight!" Riley's voice was rising, echoing in the narrow tunnel. "It's a fucking Aggron, not an Alakazam! It doesn't have the brain capacity to remember your order."

"Would you keep it down," I hissed through gritted teeth. "Trust me; Aggron will do you no harm. But if you continue insulting it, I won't make any promises."

"But-but… no one can train an Aggron that well. You can't do that."

"Hey, it's me we're talking about," I grinned. "And it's not about the training," I said, "it's about making you the alpha-monster of the pack, making sure there's no doubt who calls the shots."

"How can you do that with an Aggron?" he asked, somehow able to put on a perplexed and exasperated look on his face, rolling his eyes at my words. "There're normally over thirteen feet tall and weighs God knows how much, and that one looks even bigger! It would crush you in a second – well, maybe not you…" he trailed off uncertainly, clearly not wanting to be left alone with my Pokémon.

He didn't have a choice; I'd need to do the next part alone if what I thought would happen came to pass.

"It's all about chemistry, you know, finding the yin to the yang, and all that shit."

"Fuck you," Riley spat at me.

I laughed. "No thanks. Listen… suck it up!" I cut the line with this argument, effectively ending it. We had a Tree to conquer and this man was acting like he had never seen _action_ before. "We need to get passed this and I can't do that if I have to hold your hand the entire way."

Something in my voice must have caught Riley's attention, because the man stopped bickering and looked attentively at me. "I still don't like this," he said, looking like a stubborn child to me.

_This is no time for a nervous breakdown_, I thought. "I promise you, Aggron won't do you anything. He's just as well-trained as Pikachu." _Well, almost…_

I turned on the spot and treaded carefully towards where I could feel the awesome energy pulsating behind the mist of blue light, ignoring whatever Riley said and keeping my own awesome powers under tight control.

For now…

The walls began to close in on me on all sides, the tunnel narrowing down until I had trouble maneuvering. I felt the power of the shield in front of me running through the crystals, making my hair stand on end as I broke through the static mist. Arriving in a world of flickering maelstrom, suppressed by a dark, chaotic power, I hardened my resolve; this was definitely what had kicked me out before.

In front of me was one of the most volatile powers I had ever felt, probably sent straight from Hell to protect one of the most pure things this world knew, or didn't know – a relic of the past…

I didn't know it at the time, but this power was created by Giratina. You've never heard of that Pokémon, have you, Drew? It's the Devil Pokémon, sealed away by Arceus before mankind was even thought about by evolution.

The giant quantity of power in front of me sizzled with barely restrained power, its core flashing between crimson-red and emerald-green and crystal-blue with thick tendrils of black thunder crisscrossing over its outer layer. I stepped back and assessed my limited options, wondering for a moment if I should just blast my way through.

_Well, why not?_

I raised my hand and gathered the immense energy inside me, feeling it surge through my arm and hardening in a blink of an eye. An Aura Sphere appeared in my hand, blazing like a blue sun, and I locked eyes on the core of the shield, targeting it as its strong and weak point.

It made sense to me, man; it made so very much sense to me.

I took a deep breath, took aim, pulled my hand back and threw the Sphere like you would with a normal ball. It struck true, going right through the outer protective layer and into its core and-

-sputtered out of existent like a balloon losing air.

Then the core changed, _surged_ with a newfound energy like it had _absorbed_ my energy – it just changed all the rules I had come to accept as unbreakable, man, as impossible as hearing a Meowth start speaking English. Aura wasn't supposed to be absorbed! Dammit!

The vortex of spinning Aura expanded, quickly growing in mass and fucking power to the brink of destruction. It pushed against the walls, and stones started to fall around me. The ground beneath my feet shook and rumbled, and the whole tunnel felt like it could collapse any second.

I had no idea, no clue, no grasp of this power, and just what the fuck I was dealing with. It seemed strange that the Tree of Beginning, the Tree that stood for all life on this Earth would be protected by something so… destructive.

Well, sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. No, scratch that, you always have to fight fire with fire.

My eyes widened, my pulse jumped, and I acted on instinct, jumping back as one of the tendrils lashed out, blazing like a whip on fire. It missed me by an inch and cleaved the ground I had just been standing on in two.

_That's my power_, I thought, even as I dodged another shaft of green fire. My mind was _burning_ with anger. _It absorbed my fucking Aura_!

The blue mist behind me began to spin, a wind howling out of nowhere. It zoomed past me, kissing my skin with its restrained power that only I could feel, and joined the core that was trying to burn me alive.

It connected and all air seemed to be sucked into the vortex for a second, before blasting me with a fearsome velocity, sending me flying flat on my ass.

I tucked and rolled with the blow on the stone ground, coming up on my knees a second later and my hands extended towards the chaos. A liquid substance poured out of my hands and came alive around me, covering the narrow path in front of me with a solid shield.

None of that flimsy shit now!

The being in front of me – and it was a being with a mind, I was sure of that – attacked me with renewed vigor, sending blast of blue energy and wisps of fire into my shield. Like a thunderstorm, I felt them hit the shield and batter away at my soul, my body shaking under the strain of the powers of Hell.

I heard someone screaming – probably myself – and smiled fiercely.

"Okay, Ketchum," I said – _screamed_ – to myself. _Give them hell_!

I pushed with my body and my shield complied, pressing against the onslaught, pushing it back slowly.

The tunnel began to freeze and I could see my own breathe on the air, as I sluggishly pushed the last of my will into destroying the thing.

My shield overpowered the thing, and it screamed with fury as I swallowed it whole with my Aura. A sound, like metal grinding on metal gonged through the tunnel…

And then it was over. The wind stopped, the bleeding chaos stilled, and I released my control, my shield flicking to nothing.

I stopped screaming, too, and slumped to the ground, exhausted and drained of feelings in my limps, yet I felt great, felt _alive_.

Was it arrogant to believe that I could fight it head-on?

Maybe, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire… with fire. What did I say before, Drew?

Yeah, pretty much – or something.

Whatever, man…

I stood up despite my shaking limps and fierce headache, and gazed upon the scene of our fight and what lay beyond that. There was a crater in the ground beneath where the monstrous thing had been, the implosion that had happened under my shield when the pressure became too much and the room to little had destroyed most of the ground.

Had I planned for that to happen – trap the thing in its own power?

Had I known it would happen?

I narrowed my eyes… had I?

Yes…

No…

I blinked away the fatigue. Ahead of me, I could see blissful sunlight, an end of the fucking tunnel. The crystals impaled in the walls had gone out with the Being, leaving the rocky tunnel in darkness.

I felt more than saw Riley and my Pokémon come to stand beside me.

Wait, I felt…

I turned my head sideways, groaning as my neck protested, and looked at the man. _Yes!_ He was there. I could feel him again, _see_ him again. Had the Being been leeching on my powers since I first encountered it in my Aura-vision? I hadn't felt anything, but it looked like it might have.

Oh well, moving on.

_Wonder what's next_, I thought. _Lugia_, I joked and sighed. Ah, hopefully not, though, it wouldn't have surprised me.

Riley shook his head at me, looking at the destruction I had made. "You just took it head on, didn't you?" he asked after a long moment.

I shrugged, seeing no point in denying it.

He sighed. "Why does that not surprise me?"

I ignored him, and turned to the sunlight just beyond the dark, narrow tunnel's ending. I couldn't see what was on the other side, but it couldn't be that bad, could it? There was sunlight, after all.

The famous last words, right?

I went out of the passageway and into the light. Aggron, with Pikachu on its shoulder, had to squeeze itself through the narrowing sides of the tunnel's end. "Was there any problems on your end?" I asked over my shoulder.

"None," Riley said. "Your Aggron is the most impressive Aggron I've ever encountered."

"I know."

We breached the sunlight, and I stopped talking and breathed out slowly. "That's something else…"

Before me was perhaps the single most amazing thing I had ever seen. We stood upon a grassy platform, suspended to the inner wall of the Tree a couple hundred meters in the air. On the ground below us ran a stream of sparkling water towards a little lake, spears of brilliant white lights shooting up into the crystal roof from gems in the water. Shooting over hundreds of feet in the air, columns of tree rose in lines on the fields beside the river, going all the way up to the roof and whatever was beyond.

But it was the thing in the center a little above us, hanging midair from the roof, which caught my gaze. Looking like a bunch of banana. Crystals – bigger than anyone I had ever seen – hung low like a chandelier between the Trees, casting a glow over the clearing.

And I could feel Aura emanating from it – oh man, what an Aura.

"Can you feel that?" I asked, staring transfixed at the Aura-crystals.

"How can I not?" Riley approached me and stopped beside me, his hand resting on my shoulder. "We've to go. Our destination should be directly above that thing."

"Okay…" _What are you not telling me?_

There was a cry that roared through the clearing, and I saw an Aerodactyl fly by us. Yeah, I'm not kidding, an Aerodactyl just flew by like it was a normal occurrence.

"We're being watch," I said, feeling eyes on me again and again and… "The Pokémon are watching us from… everywhere."

Riley nodded, not saying anything and leading us up the side road – the only way off the plateau we stood on. I followed the road with my eyes, and saw it twisting all the way up and through the roof, disappearing behind a wall of blackness. My senses were oddly quiet about what lay behind.

My senses told me what Riley's machine had told us before we entered, though. We were on the right way, but still…

"There is something up there – beyond the roof," I said.

"I know," Riley answered simply.

_Of course you do,_ I thought.

We moved onwards, creeping carefully along the dirt road, but our gaze kept flickering back out over the view, more than once a flock of Pokémon caught my gaze. They looked healthy, unnaturally so. They had no scars or signs of a life spent struggling for survival. How was that?

I stopped to look at a small group of Nidoran playing in the side of the road. They stopped when I did and looked at me with inquisitive gazes. One of them – a Nidoran – crawled to me, sniffing curiously at my pants.

I reached down to pet its pinkish purple hide, mindful to not touch its horn. I doubted I could have raised it healthier myself; its skin was raw and strong.

It purred delightfully, looking up at me with its strangely intelligent red eyes. Wild Pokémon didn't usually show any sign of higher intelligence, not until they were caught and had been trained by a trainer at least.

Was it the Tree's doing?

I stood up, making the Nidoran run back to its family. They kept staring at me as I joined Riley, its parent looking at me with what looked like speculative eyes. Together we reached the oval-shaped hole in the roof of the Tree.

The darkness that laid beyond consumed whatever was in there, but I didn't want to be detested and walked through it. I couldn't penetrate the darkness with my eyes, but my Aura…

The darkness turned to blue as I focused my Aura on the world around me, everything lighting in stark clarity. What met my eyes scared the shit out of me. The shock hit me like lightning, making me go into a defensive stand as I saw just what I had stepped into, what I was up against.

It was a corridor, carved in well worked white marble, and it was leading up to a golden temple with an oval roof and an arch-shaped door, tunnels were carved into the walls, but they were guided. Pokémon lined both walls of the corridor, all with alert eyes and strong bodies. Their stands were tensed, muscles bulging under their skin. This must be the fighters, I realized. The Pokémon trained to fight in this small society inside the Tree. Their skin was marred with old and new scars from battling. But their eyes, man, their wild, animalistic eyes held the same uncommon signs of trained intelligence as all the other inhabitants, tinged with a very, very dangerous edge.

I swallowed, feeling Riley stop beside me, his hand holding tightly to my shirt so as to not get lost in the dark.

"What is it? Why did we stop?"

I took out my Poké Ball and recalled Aggron with the red beam, making Pikachu jump onto my shoulder. I knew Pikachu could see a little in the dark. I also knew that Aggron could see almost clearly, but, after some consideration, I decided that having Aggron out looked far too much like a challenge. A Pikachu was considered a much more gentle being.

I was trying to play it safe, actually using my brain for a change.

The wild Pokémon growled, one of them sounding like a computer. My head flew around like whip, I'd heard that terrible sound before. "No, surely not…"

My eyes ran along the walls, searching for the Pokémon making the specific sound. When my eyes caught the Pokémon at the back of the line near the Temple I breathed out in slight despair.

Ah fuck…

Regigigas towered over all others, its very presence and power commanding everyone's attention in the corridor. I wondered how I hadn't seen it before now. Its white, skeletal arms hang loosely down its white body, the yellow decayed flesh on its top flapped down its midriff and shoulders. I caught its gaze – or I think I did – and had to suppress a shudder, as the multi-colored, dead, dot-like eyes saw right through me.

I wondered how old this Pokémon was for a moment, even while the black strips on its body flashed yellow. I caught a glimpse of something behind it; three energy sources appeared out of nowhere and it only took an instant for me to identify them.

Regirock, Regice and Registeel all came alive behind their creator, all looking different from each other with their specific typing, and yet looking something alike.

Created in their creator's reflection, the three Pokémon all had the same lifeless, dot-like eyes and somewhat robotic appearances. The all spotted different typing, identifiable by their names, and I could hear a metallic scraping sound emanating from them.

"Is that… Regigigas?" Riley asked, his voice full of disbelieve and fear.

"Yeah…" I said, trailing off. "And the other three – ah fucking hell!"

I felt my blood boil, in fear or anger I wasn't sure, and was about to charge the four Pokémon with Charizard and Pikachu and everything else I could throw at these motherfuckers that stood between us and the temple behind them. I didn't even know what was in the temple, but if so many Pokémon were guiding it there had to be something good in there.

Then weird things started to happen around me.

The lights went on from somewhere I didn't know, and had no time to find out, blinding my eyes and forcing them closed. And then Regigigas stepped aside, apparently commanding the three others to do the same and revealed the door for us again.

"What – Riley!"

Riley had slumped down, paralyzed with evidently fear at the sight of the four Pokémon. His face had turned white and his body was shaking terribly, we were seeing madness – but he was apparently a virgin to this kind of fuck up.

He looked scared out of his mind.

"Riley? Riley… Riley!" I couldn't penetrate him, he just didn't respond, staring past me with a far-away look. "Goddammit, Riley! You were the one who wanted to do this!" I hauled him over my right shoulder, stepping with measured step past the Regigigas, making sure it didn't deceive us, as I opened the brown door whit my left shoulder.

Sometimes appearances can be deceiving, Drew. Remember that.

The Pokémon let us through, but I thought the Regigigas tried to make eye contact with me. I caught a quick look at it just before the door swung closed behind us.

It warned me – or it looked like it tried to. But what was it warning me about? There was nothing in the temple, none that I could find at least. Normally, I'd take that as a good sign, a sign I could rely on. But this place had showed me that even though I had improved there was still things that could get the drop on me.

My body tensed and I turned on the spot, feeling a mind-boggling energy appearing in the room out of nowhere. I searched everywhere in the room, using every part of my considerable power to find the source of this energy, ignoring the pitiful moans from Riley. But there were no sign of another living soul beyond Pikachu, Riley and me.

Had it really meant to warn me, I asked myself. _Or did I read it wrong? _No, it had definitely warned me about something. But what? There was nothing but the energy, no kinds of life form save us. The energy source was fucking everywhere.

"When will it end?" I whispered, more than a little out of breath, and my emotions running a little too high. I would sleep well tonight – dead or alive, I would sleep well. Well, the wound in my neck might have had another opinion.

"Soon…"

I jumped, my heart missing a beat, and spun on the wooden floor with an Aura Sphere ready in my palm.

I came face-to-face with Riley, almost taking his head off with my attack.

I saw red, I saw fucking blood, maybe the stress _was_ getting to me. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing? I could've taken you head off!" I whispered, trying to convey how much I considered actually doing it. This man had been nothing but trouble ever since we stepped inside this fucking tree – Tree.

"We're almost there, Ash. You're almost there, son," he whispered, his eyes growing distant and voice… prophetic. "There is no good afterlife for men who don't act in time of world crisis. Is there redemption, I wonder? For those who made it happen, for those who opened the box and peered inside it out of curiosity? Will there be a choir of angels singing my welcome? Did I make myself worthy of such a welcome? Did I redeem myself for my crimes to this word or will I wake up, burned in the fires of Hell?"

_Ah, what the fuck was that?_ I stared at the man, forgetting for a moment the awesome power we shared the room with.

Oh, the mistakes of our lives, what could be, what would be, and the fucking stupid decisions of turning your back to the hungry Feraligatr and act as if it wasn't there.

I did it for a man who had obviously just knocked one to many screws loose. A man I had if not liked; then come to respect in some ways. Respect but never trust… "Are you with me, Riley? What crimes? What are you talking about?"

"The real question is if you're with me…" he coughed. "But then again, you never were very good at asking the right questions. Crimes indeed…"

"You're talking as if you're dying…"

"We're all dying."

Ah okay. "Look, we don't have time for this goddamn shit." I looked around the room. It was a simple decorated room. The brown wooden walls were lined with silver candles coating them, giving the room a warmth and glow that seemed inviting. At the end of the room, directly opposite was a floor-to-roof painting of a man I had never seen before. The man was wearing grey shirt and pants with a blue west over his shirt, a black cape and a blue and black hat. His hair was black and his eyes blue.

Wait, I'd seen this man, but he looked different… I searched my memories for the man's looks. There was similarities but he_ looked different_. He looked better. The painting looked old, yet well kept, it _felt _old somehow.

Under the painting was a set of old stone steps, leading up to a pedestal that carried a black and white box.

"Can you feel it – the _power_?" Riley asked, breaking my mesmerized gaze and gaining my attention. "It's everywhere… everywhere, blocking everything else."

His eyes _blazed_ with a fire I couldn't look away from. "Take a look at what's in the box. You were born to wear it."

Some pieces were starting to fall into place. Riley clearly knew more than he'd let on. I had a feeling we were exactly where he wanted us.

I went to the box, afraid and excited at the same time. I had a pretty good idea – no, I knew who it was in the painting – but I didn't know anything about the box. It all seemed so wrong, Riley, the Pokémon, everything was screaming for me to not listen to him, yet I felt it was my – duty to take what was inside.

I took the three steps slowly and came to stand before the box. I heard Riley having trouble rising behind me, but paid it no mind as I unclasped the golden lock. Pikachu jumped onto my shoulder again, looking down at the box with me.

My hands shook as I slowly lifted the lid, revealing the box contents. I blinked, taking the thing out and examining it closely.

It was a ring.

A silver-grey ring with black and blue dots that formed some kind of symbol I couldn't see.

It had Aura – a fuck ton of it, the little thing _blazing_ pure energy.

With my breath held and my body shaking with barely restrained eager, I put the ring on my left finger. I didn't know why I did it, man, but something was compelling me to do it. Today it's quite clear what made me do it.

"_ASH! LOOK OUT! FUCK, ARGH!"_

I spun on the pedestal in time to see a Nidoking lifting Riley up and smashing him through the wall and into the next room, Riley leaving the room kicking and screaming and bleeding.

I lifted my palm on instinct, shooting an Aura Sphere into the giant Nidoking, as I unclipped Charizard's Poké Ball from my belt and Pikachu hopped down from my shoulder to join the fight.

Nothing of it mattered.

It didn't matter a goddamn thing, because before my hand had even made it half-way down to my belt, before Pikachu had even connected to the floor. Hell, before my Aura Sphere had carved a hole in Nidoking's armor and body, shooting out the other side of its body in a spray of hot, red blood, effectively taking its life, a Hyper Beam gunned us down.

It hit the floor right in front of us with such an impossible strength that it could only have been one Pokémon who made it. Looking up, even as my body was slammed against the painting and the house was shaking and crashing through the ground and into the crystals I'd admired not half an hour ago, I saw the backstabbing Regigigas.

"Fuck you, you mother-"

My insult was broken short when gravity took its hold on the half of the house me and Pikachu were in, the half of the house that was crashing into the floor below, throwing us against the roof like a rack-dolls.

I groaned as my head connected painfully to the roof, then the house tilted in its tumbling, and I was thrown head first into floor again.

I heard Pikachu cry out, but there was nothing left of me to care, nothing left of me to do anything with. I knew Pokémon, even the smaller ones like Pikachu, were usually more sturdy than humans, and Pikachu had trained hard most of its life…

It would survive. I hoped…

The world was blackening fast, even though I tried with all my being to stay awake. There was just nothing left.

_Did I redeem myself for my crimes to this word?_

I hadn't. I had only just begun to try, but it seemed I'd never get the chance to even finish my start.

The house tilted a final time. Hitting the roof _hard_ again, I blacked out, seeing my hand turned weirdly grey and tingly. The hallucinations of death…

Pikachu's cries rang in my ears.

I was long dead to the world when the house hit the river on the ground below.


	4. Beginning of My Legend

**Disclaimer****:** Still not mine.

**A/N: **You don't have to read this if you already have. I've just changed a couple of mistaskes I found. Maybe it isn't such a good idea staying up all night to finish a chapter. I think I made a few extra blunders - or I know I made some - beyond those I found while reading it through. Oh well, tell me if you find more. I know it's a bad excuse, but English isn't my mother tongue.

* * *

**End of My Journey – Beginning of My Legend**

_Heroes are remembered._  
_But Legends never die._

_-Riley_

_Have you ever felt like you were awake, but wasn't really. Have you ever felt you were somewhere, but your heart just wasn't in it? Have you ever felt you mattered when it really counted for something? That when the shit got real you were there because you could make the goddamn difference? _

_Have you, Drew? _

_You believe so? You think you matter sitting here and talking to me? You think any of this shit matters? Well, let me tell you something. It's all lies and make-believe, harsh but true. The truth is if you weren't here someone else would be talking to me. You're… replaceable. _

_I've felt all of the above a lot of fucking times, and every single one of them was as fake as the last – like when the authorities tells you it's gonna be alright and then one second later everything becomes chaos around you. I thought for a moment I could turn the tide, make that glorified fucking difference and save our species from extinction. Maybe I still can._

_One man can make all the difference… _

_So who's the idiot? The politicians that fills us with meaningless bullshit just to keep themselves in office. Corrupt bastards the lot of them. Or the group of people I used to belong to, the people who just lap it all up because we don't want to face the possibility that tomorrow could be our last among the living. _

_What are we gonna do? If someone ever found an answer would they mind telling me before I sink too deep? Because I'm sinking, man. I'm sinking and there is nothing left of me to stop it. So you want to know how I survived, right? I can see it in your eyes, Drew; the eyes are the way into a person's soul, or something like that… I think I said that before._

_But you already know, don't you? Of course you do, of course you do. I didn't at the time. I mean, how could I? I hadn't been exposed at the time, hadn't seen the _light_. I didn't know the sheer thrill of being in control, of being in the know. _

_I hadn't seen the other side of the coin, the good and the bad… _

_Do you want to know what immeasurable power is? You don't have to answer that, I already know you do. We all want to know what power is. Happening as we speak beyond that mirror: Misty is scratching her cheek, a far-away look on her face, her beautiful green gaze mesmerized upon my every word. Lance stands at the back of the room, back straight and arms crossed. He's frowning, Drew, and now his shuffling nervously on the spot because how the fuck do I do this, man?_

_Giovanni leaves the room now, saying he has business to take care of at the Gym. Goodbye, asshole. Do let the door hit you on your way out, if you please._

_Where was I? Don't worry, I know – just making conversation. _

_Have you ever tried it, Drew? Taking control? Being the one everyone has to consider before taking action? Of course you haven't. You're just a shrink that gets pushed around by your bosses all the goddamn time, right?_

_Well, I'll let you in on a little secret, come closer I don't bite – you know I can't – that's it. Now hear this: Power feels good. _

_I just unnerved you, didn't I? Please, don't lie; I see right through that kind of thing. I have a reader inside this helmet feeding me numbers and statistics directly into my brain. Your pulse just went up twenty percent, your body temperature is rising now – you're getting uncomfortable, Drew. That sudden spike of your pulse tells me more than one hour gazing into my unblinking red stare is ever gonna tell you._

_The call me Red, remember? Of course you do, heh, you're never gonna forget that now, huh? You're wondering if you'll live through this, ah, interrogation to see your wife. Your kids. You don't know if your bosses set you up to the lion, but you think they might have. _

_That, my friend, is immeasurable power. _

I am immeasurable power_ – and I've barely even made a fucking dent in the surface._

_Oh. The story, right, you just want my story, and with all the cutting-edge details you can squeeze out of me. You still haven't forgotten your orders, huh? Get me to give you a clue into my real identity, get a face on the man hiding behind the blood red visor of my helmet._

_Well, sure. I'm just waiting for the guys in the other room to connect the dots and kick you out. Trust me; you'll be long gone when I'm done telling my story, shipped off to a place where you can never reveal any secrets._

_I'd stop thinking about going home if I were you__…_

_Don't look so surprised, it must have occurred to you that this wasn't just another day on the office._

_The story, right, I keep getting sidetracked by my… human side. _

_I awoke to a world bathed in fire and insanity… as usual._

* * *

I heard noises, cries of pain and suffering. The world was turned ablaze to my eyes, but I wasn't really there – my mind wasn't there. My mind was… contaminated, taken over by some fierce otherworldly being hell-bent on consuming me in raw insanity.

I was looking at the abyss, Drew. It was fucking screaming at me, reaching for me to join in its black madness. It was just fire and black, fire and black everywhere. The wind howled at me like a hurricane with a target. War waged around me, and I was blind to it all.

I could smell fire, I could feel fire, and I didn't hear their screams of misery because my own was drowning them. I felt like I was falling, falling aimlessly as the lost souls do when Arceus forsakes them. Something bigger than me was _gnawing_ at my mind, tearing it fucking asunder.

And then came the whispers.

_Aura… body… Aura. AURA! The power of Aura is mine! Just who do you think you are? AURA IS MINE! GIVE ME WHAT IS MINE! _

They were screaming at me, Drew. And the most fucking scary thing was that it sounded like my voice. The fire was leaving my world now, the blackness becoming never-ending. I could feel it slipping, my mind and soul being replaced by something… _old_.

Old and strong.

_Yes! Give it to me. I've waited an eternity for this moment. _

I could feel emotions not my own now, feeling, dreams and memories not my own coursing through the maelstrom of our bond. I was losing myself to the thing, and for a moment it felt good. Blissful. There was silence…

Then I saw myself, kneeling in front of a creature with so much power it made me feel dizzy. It had the shape of a centaur, but there was nothing half-human about this Pokémon. Its body was white with a gray leathery abdomen and face. It eyes were green and its pupils blood red. It had some kind of golden wheel around its body; weird markings kept flicking with its every step. The long mane behind its head was floating in midair like it was running full speed.

It was walking on the air in front of me, judging me with its godforsaken red eyes. Expect it wasn't me that was kneeling. I was looking from behind the person, a silent spectator to a memory not my own.

Then it stopped walking, rumpling something unintelligible in the back of its throat. Whatever it did must have killed something somewhere – it wasn't my memory but I could still feel the power _bleeding_ of this thing. Its form gained a golden glow, and a very little object left its wheel, floating gently down to the kneeling man.

The man lifted his hand and grasped the object out of the air, his every movement looking like a dying man's. "Thank you, thank you – I won't let you down. I promise," he whispered with a dying breath.

The memory dissolved into blackness again. My mind was all but gone now, just a fleeting memory in my body.

Then the other being disappeared, gone so fast I caught myself thinking that I had just been imagining it all. The other being leaving my consciousness in an instant. I was myself again – alone in my body.

I felt awake now, my senses were coming back. The abyss had left me. I was _alive_… but how? The world was still dark, the sounds were there but there were far away. Far away like someone was whispering them from the other end of a fucking long tunnel.

_Can you feel it – the _power_? It's everywhere… everywhere, blocking everything else._

_Riley…_ An old memory brought to the forefront of my mind, images and sounds flashing around me.

_Can you feel it – the _power_? It's everywhere… everywhere, blocking everything else._

Was that rapture I had detected in his voice? Longing?

Blue runes and symbols twinkled like stars on a clear night sky. My eyes were seeing the fires and fights of the real world around me and the strange blue light upon the sky at the same time, as if seeing a different world through each eye. I didn't understand any of them – didn't understand what was going on – but they kept coming and coming, and suddenly I wasn't surrounded by skies, fire and fighting, but by a very familiar blue light.

The blue translucent light consumed the void; it blinded me with its fucking intensity.

And then a red face blasted through the light, like a thunderstorm on a cloudless sky, its face dead and eyes gouged out of its eye sockets. "_WAKE UP!_"

I awoke with a jolt, screaming and _surviving_ against all odds. Odds I didn't even know I'd conquered at the time.

Fuck the odds!

I sat up, still screaming bloody murder, with a labored breathe and my wet arms extended before me, Aura Spheres blazing like hellfire in both hands.

My eyes widened as something spat a Flamethrower at me. Letting my body fall sideways, I rolled away in the water from the scorching flames. The pillar of inferno speed dried my armor and singed my skin as I just barely got out of the way.

I stopped my roll with my left hand in the shallow water and pushed myself to a sitting position, pumping my attacker full with Spheres of Aura. The Spheres cut through the fires like a hot knife through butter, and whatever attacked me didn't even have time to groan before it was _down_. The fire stopped coming and I caught my first glimpse of my attacker.

The Heatran had taken my attack directly to the face, its skull cracked open. I saw super-hot brown blood and gore running down the fucker's face, its reddish-brown metal frame had gone limp. It had died before it even hit the waters. I was getting good at this killing thing.

Was that a good thing?

Fuck, yes! I was alive and the Heatran wasn't.

Ah fuck. Maybe it wasn't, Pokémon had feelings too, right?

I ignored the sickening sight and my damn contradicting thoughts, my eyes analyzing my surroundings as I remembered to breathe again. My Pikachu was alive – _thank God!_ – and was fighting savagely with a huge, blue and yellow dragon, jumping and spinning and attacking faster than the twenty feet tall dragon could follow. I had never seen such a Pokémon before, but I didn't have the time to fish out my Pokédex and see if it knew the stranger.

The world was on fire!

I looked beyond Pikachu, knowing it could handle itself despite the size and power difference. I had trained it to, after all. I looked beyond the river I was crouching in. I saw the grassy fields turned ablaze by the fighting, the white-hot flames that spread far too quickly to be a natural fire. The Water Pokémon tried to clench it with their water attacks, and I found myself wondering how they would make it count when more and more of their numbers were forced to take part in the fight.

_Why are they fighting?_ I thought. _They seemed so peaceful before…_

They had seemed so healthy and smart – sophisticated beyond mere Pokémon, but not anymore. At least not all of them… the fucking Tree was coming undone around me. It seemed like no matter where I went I took the fighting with me, and wasn't that a sad thought.

_Sad because it's true,_ I thought.

The shinning pillars of trees that arched like towers over me, connecting the ground level with the roof were rotting. Groaning and breaking before my eyes, the once unmovable objects were rattling in their cages now. The once beautiful water of the rivers had been contaminated by the blood and the ooze of the burning and dying flesh.

The Tree was dying.

I felt it swift and sure, the awesome power that had acted like a vacuum when we arrived were diminishing, slowly dying in front of me.

An attack screamed at my back, and I spun about in the red river, dodging the glowing purple beam and letting it pass over my shoulder and into the inner wall of the Tree behind me.

I looked after it to make sure it hadn't hit anything vital, anything unstable. It hadn't, just the wall of Tree, a great chunk of tree had been blasted to pieces by the Hyper Beam. I fucking hated the type who attacked people with their backs turned. I hated it because it was the sensible thing to do, a thing even I, with all of my Aura and power, could be vulnerable to.

I turned around, all lazy and suave, giving my full attention with a blasé attitude to the creature before me, the creature who had _dared_ attacking me behind my back. I saw a glimpse of what was coming, of what the world could be caught in, but I had no idea what it was or what to make of it.

At some point in the not so distant future I would, we all would.

A war wage with powers of the Old Wars turned real, turned fucking _alive_. The world hanging in the balance with my decisions as the deciding factor, and the shittiest thing of all, Drew, is that I have no fucking clue what to do.

The massive Rhydon that met my gaze looked insane; its eyes were laughing sheer, uncontrollable madness and its horn was spinning like a fucking rollercoaster. A little Nidorina was running by us, going towards the fires with clear intent to help out. The giant Pokémon grunted what I suppose was a laugh and wrecked its horn through the defenseless Nidorina's abdomen, piercing it like a piece of meat on a stick.

It grunted lowly in the back of its scaly throat. It looked satisfied with its kill, proud of its own efficiency and power. I could have appreciated its skills if the action hadn't been so damn cruel and brutal. It flung the twitching body aside and roared its challenge at me, the small, pinkish Pokémon crumbling in the water, moaning its dying breath and spilling even more blood into the river.

I looked at the slowly dying Pokémon; taking in just how skilled the way the Rhydon had dispatched the poor creature, hoping to find the best way to kill it. _It was only trying to help, _I thought, trying – and failing miserably – to control the storm of rage I felt bubbling under my skin. The Nidorina had been running towards the burning fields with a tub of water on its back, it had known no water moves, but was trying to help anyway to the best of its abilities. _IT WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP!_

My anger was pounding something fierce, demanding me to serve justice. I hardened that anger into a steely resolve, calm mask etching into my once handsome face.

Now it was an ugly mask of a killer – another being entirely.

Pokémon often killed for survival. Hell, I had killed the little fuckers more often than I cared to admit for that reason, but this was something else, something utterly unacceptable. Killing for survival was one thing; Killing because you thought it was good sport was another.

They might have been Pokémon and not part of the human society, but dammit they were still living and breathing beings.

Yeah, I wanted to kill the bastard of a Rhydon.

_This thing is gonna die!_ I thought. "You just signed your own death warrant, I hope you know that," I said calmly because it was either staying calm or going down screaming with the insane world that was trying to break me.

Keeping your head calm won battles, fighting with your head under your arm and screaming like a lunatic didn't. Pokémon Trainer's guidebook 102.

It crocked its head to the side, a look I couldn't understand crossing it animalistic features before its insane smile returned, and then it lifted its palm at me, waving me on.

_To smart,_ I realized, it was too calculating to be wild, its body too busted up to be one of the Tree's Pokémon.

_Ah, Hell, what the fuck is going on?_

Explosive destruction was flung around me like it was candy, Pokémon were crying out for help, most of them dying like the little Nidorina.

At that moment it didn't mean a thing to me – nothing but the waiting Rhydon in front of me meant a fucking thing.

Drops of blood dripped from my hand as I slowly raised it towards the monstrous being. The blood wasn't my own; it belonged to all the Pokémon that had died and fallen in the water. For a moment I wondered how I had made the fall without a scratch on my body, how I could possible survive a fall like that and walk away with no damage at all.

It was just one more of those impossible things I took with me in my stride.

The Rhydon snarled low in its throat, its face hardening to an expression resembling my own, as it crouched low on its haunches, its muscles bulging with a strength that could snap my back like a twig. Its insane eyes were staring at me, a deep hunger swirling behind its red pupils.

I was being planned for dinner.

I forewent any plan and charged the laughing bastard head on; it continued laughing through its obvious surprise, firing a rushed and laughable Hyper Beam at me. I didn't even have to dodge it, the scorching beam sailing wide as I jumped on my back and slid in close, releasing the Sphere in my palm.

It tried to dodge, its body heaving with the effort of moving its heavy weight, and I thought I saw the madness leave its eyes for a second as the reality hit it.

I was better than the bastard, and it was dead meat.

It moved its right hand down in the Sphere's path; I knew it was trying to block it. I saw it as the last desperate attempt to save itself, sacrificing its hand for its life. I also knew it wouldn't mean a goddamn thing. It could have worked, sure, it wasn't a stupid plan – it was a fucking brave plan. And if the force behind my Aura Sphere wasn't unstoppable it would have worked. But the power behind it _was unstoppable_. My attack struck its hand and it fucking exploded, the attack _vaporized_ blood and gore and skin and everything. The Ball of blue fire continued on, slashing a hole in its abdomen and making its blood flow into the shallow river.

The sacrifice saved its life – or at least gave it a few more moments of painful existence. I think I'd have preferred it if it was over quickly instead.

It didn't roar in agony or whimper its dying breath. It felt heavily to its knees, its shaky left arm and bleeding stub cradling its wound, all madness and insanity leaving its eyes in an instant moment of clarity. Clarity of its own actions. It suddenly looked scared and horrified, and as I gained my feet again, I wondered for a moment if I had seen something wrong.

The tortured moan of pain beside the Rhydon reminded me of what it had just done, reminded me of the monster behind the remorseful look it was sending me now. But still… something felt wrong. It eyes were different, begging, pleading me to do something.

I didn't feel particular charitable, though, and I tilted my head down to eyelevel when it crumbled completely. "What do you want?" I asked, keeping my distance. Even though it was dying, it was still a dangerous opponent.

It gestured with its head at the burning fields to my side. I looked at it strangely; did it really want me to take my eyes of it? Did I look so stupid with my overgrown berth and hair? A caveman without a brain?

I turned my eyes slowly, keeping half an eye and all of my other senses at the Rhydon, and gazed at the fields turned ablaze a couple of feet from me. It was getting warmer in here now; the Pokémon of the Tree had stopped all together trying to save it and was busy staying alive as more and more Pokémon from the outside world poured in. They wild Pokémon were all fighting and killing the Tree's Pokémon with the same crazed lust for battle the Rhydon had displayed against me not a minute ago.

It clicked for me a moment later, the pieces in the puzzle righted themselves and I knew what was happening – should have known it right from the start. I felt terrified, I was scared shitless, this wasn't supposed to fucking happen; I had thought it had ended all those months, years – _whatever_ – ago. That I had clenched the foray before it had really begun.

"You're all controlled," I said, my mind running through the implications of my word and the adrenalin kicking into over gear. I weighted the seriousness of it all. I was gonna be fucked – _we _were all fucked. "I thought it had stopped…"

It nodded, somehow understanding my words. What the fuck made them so smart? They almost acted like humans. It begged me with its eyes again, but for what I had no clue, though an idea slowly sprung to mind; it wanted death – an end to its suffering. I felt a little twitch in my stomach, the damned conscious kicking in again. The little kid who had always been so fascinated with Pokémon growing up was accusing me of murder, the screams resonating in my mind.

_What have you done?_ The voice whispered in my mind – it sounded like an eight-year-old Ash fucking Ketchum. _WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?_

_I killed an innocent Pokémon,_ I answered the voice, and I knew that if what I feared was true then it would only be the beginning of my killing matters.

The Rhydon grunted, its pain obvious. It reminded me of Serena's Rhyhorn – and that just reminded me of Serena…

"I'm sorry… so, so sorry…" I whispered, gently pushing at its thick arms. It complied with my wishes, lifting its arms and exposing its wound to me. I pressed my hand to the wound, its warm blood pouring out over me.

I turned my palm upwards and caught the Rhydon's eyes with my own; I tried to convey the apology with my eyes before I ended its suffering. It didn't look like it understood me or maybe it just didn't feel very appreciative after I blasted its hand off.

I could understand that. I would have been pissed too, I think.

Breathing in and steeling myself, I discharged an Aura Sphere strong enough to go through reinforced steel into the wound in its abdomen. I saw the light leave its eyes the moment I released my attack, the Sphere continuing through its body and out of its neck in a spray of blood.

A fast death was a small mercy… sometimes all I could offer, but not enough – never enough… never enough, Drew.

As if the world was going in slow motion, I saw its body sail away from me, the power behind the blow taking it a couple of meters away. It landed on its back, cold eyes staring blankly against the remains of the hanging crystals.

I looked at the Nidorina the Rhydon had _unwillingly_ attacked; hoping against all rational thoughts that it had made it, that it was still alive somehow, and something good could come out of this situation. Its form wasn't moving anymore, though, it was dead and gone.

At that moment I hated the world, hated it almost as much as I hated Giovanni. I felt small and insignificant against the destruction around me, against the never-ending annihilation a few insane Pokémon could wraith in a couple of minutes.

I knew something was making the Pokémon go mad, but what it was I had no fucking clue about. How was I to stop something I didn't even understand? Giovanni I could understand, I could see the mind behind the madness, I knew how to fight him – whether or not I could beat him was another matter, but fight him I could… and would, again and again and again and…

I sighed.

But this… there was just no end to it.

The day I met Riley, I showed I could kill hundreds of wild Pokémon in a row. Today I had gotten even more efficient at fighting and killing, but would it matter if they just kept coming? At some point one of us had to give…

Pikachu hissed beside me, breaking my gaze from the dead Nidorina and reminding me that we were under attack. I looked down at the small mouse, noting the wicked scratch on its side and the blood running from the corner of its mouth. I saw the blue and yellow dragon's corpse lie on a small area of tall grass, all bloody and burned.

The fires would swallow its corpse in a moment or two.

"Good job, Pikachu," I said out of habit rather than actually meaning it. My mind was busy searching for some way to save this situation, save the Tree.

It sensed my mood and cooed sadly, nuzzling its head to my wet pants. I bend down to give it a light pet absentmindedly, my Aura searching for some sign. _What are controlling them?_

Then energy spiked in the Tree like lighting, and I suddenly had this feeling that Pokémon turned insane was the least of my problems.

I had felt that energy before.

I looked up in half euphoria and half horror, seeing the enormous crystals shine brighter and brighter, even as I felt the immense energy being gathered. The Tree was coming to life to defend itself. Its intentions couldn't have been clearer if it screamed them to me.

It was gonna kill everything it considered a threat.

How did I know that? Well, Drew, I _am _of its kind – I can read it just as well as it can read me.

The question you should be asking is not how I could read it, but did I count as a threat to it?

I felt rather than saw all the Pokémon around me stop what they were doing. They all felt the same power I did, controlled as well as those living in the Tree. The Tree's Pokémon looked like they had just seen their savior, staring with a so obvious relief it almost looked like a human expression. The invading Pokémon didn't have as strong a reaction, but still I thought I detected a certain amount of fear

And then the crystals exploded. In a grand gesture of light and might, it blinded me with its intensity and set the fire, fields and water on _fire_.

Blue fire – true fire. The kind of fire that leaves cities in waste, Drew. The kind of fire Moltres belched on Vermilion City.

It didn't make any sense. Like most of what the Tree did, it was beyond my understanding. Yet there was something different, the blue light felt welcomed, my own Aura practically sang out to the blue energy, but I didn't heed my Aura. Maybe I should have, maybe that would have spared me of my pain…

Orbs of Aura fell down upon us like it was raining fucking asteroid. Some of it struck the rivers and fields, purifying the water and curing the grass and earth like Arceus himself had kissed the land. The fires that raged with an almighty fucking vengeance were put out the moment the miracle blue lights hit it all. The wild Pokémon who had poured into the Tree while I was out for the count were all now scrambling over each other to get out, heading straight at me and for the exit behind me.

I almost gulped and grabbed Pikachu, not sure if the Tree would kill us, but knowing with absolute certainty that the wild Pokémon would tramp us to death, and took off running.

I caught a glimpse of one of the Pokémon, a Heracross. It looked strong and tough, but it didn't matter to the Tree as it gunned down the defenseless Bug. Despair flashed over its wild face as the blue energy turned red upon contact, consuming it in a bubble of red mass, and ending in the earth itself swallowing the bubble.

I didn't want to know how _that_ felt.

So I ran – oh, how I ran, man.

Reaching an oval shaped hole in the Tree, directly below the plateau I had entered from this morning, I didn't stop to look before running into the darkness. I could feel more and more of the wild Pokémon die behind me, their energies suddenly disappearing as the Tree gunned them down.

The Tree didn't touch me, and I didn't stop to look if it would. Running through a similar tunnel as the one I had walked with Riley, I saw the crystals flash up as I ran past them, lighting up the way for me.

_Goddammit, Riley! _I stopped abruptly and almost turned on the spot to go back. He was still in there. In all the excitement of chaos and Armageddon come true and foreign forces trying to take over my body, I had completely forgotten about him. _Fuck, I've got to back!_

The Tree didn't give me a choice, however, as a field of sizzling energy poured into the tunnel, covering from side-to-side and floor-to-roof, and going straight for me.

_Fucking Hell!_ I swore in my mind. Reacting quickly, I shot orbs of destructive energy into the field, my arms flicking and thrusting as fast as I could. I turned the dark passageway alight with my awesome power.

I didn't make a dent in it, if anything I only succeeded in making it faster and stronger.

I couldn't take any more of this goddamn Tree, and its maddening hold over me. It drove me slow and accurately to the brink of my own sanity. It had all been for nothing, all this trekking and fighting for nothing, just another human being on my conscious…

I clenched my hand and screamed in _raw_, insane fury, slashing out with my arm. A wave of scorching blue energy crackled like lighting from my being, rocketing towards the Tree's power, its power and velocity fueled by my rage.

_BOOM!_

The energies exploded in a fiery combination of lights upon contact. Like a wrestling match, the two waves of potent energy fought for supremacy, my unwavering intent leading my own power on in a screaming vortex of sheer insanity. Harsh winds raged on my body, almost making me lose my footing and end my life.

A primal scream of desperation and _defiance_ escaped my lips, as I pushed with all I had, trying to win some few precious moments so I could make a final run for it.

I was gonna run like all fucking Hell!

I pushed a final time, sending more Aura into the blazing maelstrom – then I broke the connection, watching with bated breath as my Power held itself against the Tree's might.

_Not for long,_ I caught myself staring at the power-play. _There is something about…_

_There is something about you, Ash Ketchum… I'd like to know what it is._

_I'm not sure I want to tell, it would take all the mystery out of me._

_Five seconds to detonation,_ I thought, shaking my head – no time for recollection now. Turning and sprinting through the tunnel, I counted the time to the explosion in my head.

Every fucking second would count if we were to make it out alive.

The crystals in the walls were flaring wildly. I didn't like to think what that could mean and therefore ignored it completely, running with a tunnel vision.

Heh… tunnel vision…

_Focus, Ketchum!_

_Four seconds._ The tunnel was becoming wider now, and I unclicked a Poké Ball, readying it for when the tunnel was big enough to fit the Pokémon inside.

_Three seconds._ I could feel the energy behind us reaching a critical level, the thing was gonna blow any second now! Fuck, I didn't have any more time left. I was gonna have to hope it would fit. I flung the Poké Ball as far as I could, watching and running as the brilliant light appeared and a giant dragon coalesced from it.

_Two seconds._ "CHARIZARD! FLY NOW!" I yelled when it had fully materialized, noting that I had gotten the Poké Ball far enough to make room for the dragon to take off.

_One second._ I caught the ball as it came zooming back to its master of its own accord. Charizard's muscles tensed and bulged as it moved and took off. I, with Pikachu on my shoulder hanging on for dear life, reached and jumped onto the Fire-Pokémon, almost hitting the roof of the passageway as I landed on its back and grab around its long neck.

_BOOM!_

The passageway shook around me as my Aura gave way for the Tree's will, an explosion thrashing the walls with its eruption, as rocks and debris fell on us. Charizard roared in surprise, a pounding wind lashing out on us from behind, rocking its body and making me tightening my grip around it. Pikachu fought of the falling rocks, batting them away with its thunder while clinging to my shoulder.

I couldn't comprehend how it could stay on and fight at the same time, but I was mighty happy it could.

Stealing a glimpse behind me, I saw the blue energy crackling with unrestrained power, ride at us like a tidal wave, consuming everything in its mindless pursue of me.

I kicked the sides of Charizard's body, signaling for it to go faster or we would be cooked meat in a second. "GO! GO! GO!" I screamed into its head for good measure.

The crimson dragon flattened its body, and I felt us pick up even more speed, spiraling through the dark and_ screaming_ tunnel with neck breaking maneuvers, the Fire-Pokémon spinning around the falling stones Pikachu didn't get.

Days of our lives, really...

We broke through the rocky corridor in record time, appearing in the sealed off Entrance Hall. I saw the curtain of water guiding the other entrance, the entrance I had entered with Riley earlier. Never breaking our pace and guiding Charizard with the barest amount of effort – the great dragon had almost read my mind – we flew straight towards the wall. I thrust my hand forward, a blue energy beam spilling from my palm, surpassing even Charizard's and Pikachu's attack as they fired at the wall, as well.

The wall crumbled under our combined onslaught, revealing the outside world in a blast of red-hot fire, sparkling sunlight and fresh smell of wet forest hitting me in stark contrast to the Hell behind me. I felt the wave eating in on us, covering the whole hall and gunning down everything that wasn't supposed to be there, and as the hall bathed in its glow, we broke free of the Tree.

Charizard shot up, gaining altitude without my order, climbing floors after floors as I hung fast tightly through the steep flight. The Tree pulsed with a vast power, sending waves after waves of blazing Aura from its trunk and into the forest, as it righted itself to what it was before I arrived and ruined it.

_Before Riley arrived… damn it all to Hell!_

The energy wave had stopped its pursuit, slowly fading away in the summer breeze. I took a deep breath, taking in the trees below and blue skyline above, and tried to enjoy the moment of blissful silence.

There was no silence for long – not around me, not _inside_ of me.

It lasted a second before the events caught up with me. _Riley…_ dead and gone, eaten by the very thing he had searched for most of his life. Had I really left him to die all alone? How could I have forgotten about him, forgotten about him after everything he did for me?

And the Pokémon – they were still being controlled. Throughout the months I had been training with Riley we never encountered another controlled beast, and I had made myself believe that it had stopped, that I had put an end to whatever was doing this.

The Rhydon – _oh shit, the Rhydon_ – had been controlled and I hadn't seen it, not until I had already killed the damn thing. How couldn't I have seen it, it was right there in front of me?

Had I wanted to kill it? Stared myself too blind because of its actions to think through my own? You didn't survive growing up out in the small towns like I had if you didn't fight back – and by fight back I mean kill, Drew. Kill or be killed, man, kill or be killed…

I killed to survive; I started doing that as a very young man, but not out of enjoyment – never for my own pleasure… until now.

I had just been so _angry_ – I lost control. I could barely even remember what I did now. I could only remember how good it felt, how fucking right it felt when I fought the fucking – Rhydon off.

Was I a monster? Turning into one?

I couldn't afford to think like that, the world couldn't afford me thinking like that. I walked a very thin line. Maybe I crossed it sometimes, maybe I didn't, but I had to walk it, the world wouldn't be a place worth living if I didn't risk my own soul to save it. If I turned into a monster in the process then so be it, it was a change I was willing to take. I either took the change, risking my own innocence and soul, or the world would catch fire.

And that I mean very literally, Drew.

"Damned if you don't, damned if you do…" I whispered with my body nested on Charizard's back as the dragon swayed gently in the air, flying at a steady pace towards Pallet – towards Professor Oak. "We are all damned in some way."

This would be my new start, Oak would be my new start, the new start to change the world and make everything right on this lonely road I walked. The man had his nose in everything that moved. He could help me if he would. And that was a big _if_ because he would want answers.

Answers I was afraid to give.

"To Professor Oak, Charizard," I said, looking back at the Tree a final time. A little blue light blinked back at me from the middle of the Tree, the middle I had come crashing down with half a temple. I felt like it was sharing a secret with me, a secret I had somehow missed. "What the hell just happened…?" I said, my voice barely above a whisper in the gentle wind.

I was going home – at last, after years away.

* * *

_You can see what I saw, right? Where this is going? What I've come here to tell your bosses. The power over the Pokémon. It's fucking beautiful, man, just so beautiful, but it's also so unstable that you have to wonder what kind of nut job would willingly use such power. I know who controls these beasts, and you'll, too, when I'm done with this story._

_He will destroy us all, unless you all man up and help me in this fight!_

_Giovanni has left the building, Lance. Step in here and talk to me. This fucking girlyman you have send in here with me has no grasp of the seriousness of our situation. If we don't work together, then Saffron City will be next. There will be no city left after he's done! _

_What do I have against Lance, you ask? You mean, beyond the obvious? That's a good question, highly irrelevant to the current topic of our conversation but a good question nonetheless. The simple answer is that the man is a lying coward not worth the cape he's wearing. Of course there's more to it, you dimwit, I just said it was the simple answer. _

_Where do I go to next? Good question. I go home and begin this goddamn fight that nobody else seems to want to take part of. _

_Where is my home? You didn't honestly think I was just gonna come out and say it, were you? Like I was ever gonna tell you that. But I will tell you something. This is where I stop being one of you and start being one of them._

_Who are them? Think about it for a minute, Drew, I'm sure you'll figure it out._

_And let me tell you something; the kids on the other side of the fence have some cool toys. You have seen how the world is crumbling, right? And really what else could we have expected. This is animals with the power to leave whole cities wasted with a breath. _

_Animals forced by some sick fucker to do his binding while we fight and kill them because what goddamn choice do we have? We don't have a choice and that's the point. It's either kill or be killed, animal vs. animal – it's human vs. nature, Drew, and so far humans have been fucked over._

_Why does he do this to the world? _

_You'll see, he's kinda right, in a very fucked up way. But enough about that, that's not really what I came for. I'm here to tell you a story about a man who evolved into a Legend…_

* * *

The scenery was familiar, the smells were the same, and I felt like coming home – back to the only home I'd ever known. But things had changed. The town had changed; the people in it weren't the same after what I'd made happen here. The once rich and green forest surrounding Pallet was now nothing more than scorched grounds, a wasteland of charcoal earth waiting for someone to make it rise again.

Maybe one day I could make that happen, too. Maybe that was just the eight-year-old in me talking again.

Sentimental fool…

The attack on the town had been so swift and devastating that they didn't see it coming before they were dead. _I_ didn't see it before they were all dead. Well, almost all of them, Oak would be here somewhere. I often doubted anything could bring the old man down.

But the most important change was the one I had gone through… did those words sound too self-centered? Oh well, I was damned important if you asked me. And I had changed – changed so much I doubted anybody would recognize me anyway.

Fuck what everyone thought, it was only _her_ that mattered.

_Is she still here, _I thought._ If she's smart then no._

She wasn't, of course.

Charizard had swung in close to the ground, Professor Oak's ranch and lab visible in the not-so-far distance, rising up like a beacon among the rest of the townhouses. The once small but cozy town was nothing but half-worked rumbles on the ground, looking as if people had tried to rebuild it after the attack, and then just left it all overnight. Few houses still stood, most of them broken and desolated. No people walked on the dirt-road below me, and I could land in peace, no sound but the wind rustling my baggy shirt.

Was this really the welcome home party for the Son of Pallet? I could see my old home from where I stood or what was left of it. The grounds of my childhood, reduced to coal and ashes. I thought that if I sniffed the air enough, if I just walked a little closer, I would see the _flames _again… hear the _screams _one more time…

But it had been years since anything screamed from behind the walls that haunted me still, only my memories screamed now – and bled. I looked away, seeing the rest of the dead town, nobody lived here anymore – nothing could live here. The small school on the end of the road was gone, rumbles from the building scattered all over the fucking place.

This was what I left behind, this was my legacy. And all because of the arrogance of a boy who thought he was on the top of the world.

Was this really a worthy welcome back to the youngest winner of a Pokémon League? The boy that had brought Pallet on the world's map?

I returned Charizard and began walking, ignoring the smell of death that still hung heavily in the air. I had a feeling it might just be my memory playing me again. My eyes set on the pinkish orange building a couple of hundred feet in front of me. It was easy to ignore, I kept telling myself, easy to just let it all fall to the back of my head and focus on my reunion with Samuel Oak. I knew the man didn't blame me, but he didn't know everything about my actions, didn't know it was me that had failed and started it all.

Sure, Pallet would have been run over at some point. That was kinda the faith of every little town to close to the nature. The town was far too unprotected out here, surrounded by far-reaching forest and oceans with wild Pokémon just around the corner. The defense measures and Pokémon Trainers were far too few and scant compared to the vast force of the world around it.

And to be completely honest, I didn't blame me for not stopping the attack. I wasn't even home when it happened.

So why was I angsting like a little pussy, you might wonder.

Heh, story for another time. I had just reached the stone steps that spiraled up to Professor Oak's house and laboratory… and the man living here.

"My god… you _are _alive."

I blinked, feeling overcome with strong emotions. The man in front of me looked old standing on the top of the stone steps, dressed in his white lab coat. The greying hair I remembered was completely grey now and balding in some places. This was the man who gave me Pikachu, for that alone I would always hold great affection for him, but he was also the man who gave me a home away from home when my mother got to unbearable.

I nodded, searching for a gentle and kind smile. I was not sure I found it. "Still kicking…" _Still fighting…_

Oak lunged for me, pulling me into a hug that made me feel warm and happy, made me forget for just a blissful moment. He broke the hug and held me at arm's length, critically eyeing me up and down. He probably noticed every damn cut and drop of blood on my clothes, he definitely noticed the raw red skin on my face and arms. I had dropped my broken armor early while flying over the sea – yeah, I knew about pollution and global warming – I was just so fucking tired and broken that I couldn't give a shit at the time.

"What in Moltres' name happened to you?"

I sighed, my weariness coming to the forefront of my mind. For the first time that day, I felt like taking a rest, a long one and never wake up again. Not a good sign when I hadn't even joined the fight. "The future, professor. The Future…"

I could see Oak didn't understand me. He had a deep, wrinkled frown on his face, lines of worry and confusing marring his forehead. Was it intentionally that I had given such cryptic answer? Well, it got his attention, didn't it?

"Let's get you inside, Ash," Oak said, leading me through the door.

* * *

"I see you have remodeled the place a bit since the last time I was here." I looked at the reinforced steel-walls, noting no personal items were adoring them. The steel vertebra that ran vertically along the room looked to be able to hold the whole structure together if the walls were to crumble. Oak explained the new safety measures to me as he led me through the corridors, I had a feeling we were going deep beneath the earth. "Looks like it could carry a hit from an Onix."

"It's should be able to sustain that and more," Oak said. "After the attack, I decided that that the place needed an overhaul."

"You're expecting another attack?"

Oak shrugged, pushing through another door and walking down a thin corridor. "What do you think?"

What did I think? "It's probably a good idea, then…"

We pushed through an average, brown wooden door and entered a room that hadn't changed much over the years I had been gone. The professor's laboratory brought me a sense of nostalgia, it was here I had gotten Pikachu – it was here it had all started. A square room that was so big that it almost didn't fit with the rest of the house. Silver-grey walls, floor and roof, sterilized equipment that lay on the workbench in the far corner of the room, a staircase spiraling up to a platform with a door leading through the wall. Computers lined the desk on the other end of the room. One of them had the power on and was running through a series of images with Pokémon. That caught my interest.

Oak saw my interest. "A new Pokémon was spotted in Cerulean a couple of weeks ago," He said, jerking his hand on the wall beside me. I turned and saw an out-of-focused picture with a greyish blob in the center.

"…wanted me to take look into it, see if I could figure out its origins," Oak was saying. I quickly focused back on him. "Apparently it's a Pokémon never seen before. Isn't it amazing that after all these years we still find new species?"

Amazing? More like frightening. I had a fascination with Pokémon when I was young, Oak had probably spoiled me with one too many tales. But ever since I became a Trainer, journeyed out into the real world and saw what a fucked up place it really was; Pokémon had become a tool rather than actually fascinating creatures. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Pokémon more than anything, but… I guess I was just not as naïve as I used to be.

Yet this sparked my interest, ignited that old fascination somewhat. "There is something about that Pokémon…" I said to no one in particular, studying the photo a little closer. I turned back to Oak. "You say it was spotted in Cerulean?"

Oak had a wistful smile on his face. "Yeah, but as I said it was weeks ago – it's probably gone by now."

Oak went behind his desk and sat down, gesturing for me to do the same. "So… what happened to you, Ash? Where have you been?"

I smiled. "Aura happened," I said. I pointed my forefinger towards the roof and made sure Oak could see. Concentrating for a second, I felt the familiar energy surging beneath my skin right before a blue ball ignited on my finger.

Oak sucked in a breath, looking suitably impressed. "Impossible…"

I admit I felt good showing of. I enjoyed the wondrous glint in Oak's eyes and reveled in the moment more than I probably should. Ah, what the hell, Aura was freaking awesome and if I couldn't brag about that I didn't have much left going for me.

"How did you manage that?" Oak asked, his head so close to my finger that the light reflected in his eyes.

I wondered for a split second about how much I should tell him, how much I could reveal, but decided to reveal everything. This was the man who had become like a father to me when my own dad didn't show any interest in me and later disappeared. If I couldn't trust him, I couldn't trust anyone.

So I told him everything, every gritty little detail about my life as a wanderer. I told him about the first years of unsuccessful travels, every lead turning out to be nothing more than smoke on the wind. I told him about the Pokémon going from wild to flat out batshit insane, attacking me with a vengeance I had never seen or heard of before. I told him about Riley, about the gruesome but highly effective training I went through with him. Then came the Tree and Oak was left breathing in awe again. The existence of the Tree made him seem like a giddy child who got all the Christmas presents that year. In the end, I told him about the journey through the Tree and all the challenges before we made it to the temple where everything went south.

"I think he was caught in there, and I just couldn't get through."

"It wasn't you fault, Ash," Oak said. "You cannot blame yourself for this." I could almost hear the word _too_ at the end of his sentence, but he managed to hold it back.

It didn't matter however. "I don't," I said with a shrug. "But I still wish I could have done more – done something."

Oak tilted his head. "You seem to have taken his death rather well?" he said hesitatingly. "Considering you spent at least two years with him."

"You know how it is out there," I said. "People die every day. At some point you get used to lose someone, I guess." I didn't know why I was so blaisé about Riley's death. I mean, sure, we didn't quite like each other, but as I have said before I did come to respect him in someway. And I hoped he didn't have to suffer through what that Heracross had gone through.

_Maybe he died in the crash,_ I thought. _A quick, painless death._

"That's a cold attitude, Ash."

I shrugged again and ran a hand through my dirty hair. I needed a bath. I needed a haircut, too, and a shave… "Maybe, but we both know that it grows on you…"

Oak sighed. "What I don't understand is why would the Tree attack you after it let you in? Why give you access in the first place if it didn't want you there to begin with?"

"I don't think the Tree was targeting me." I looked at the the flicking screen again, noting the shape and size of the indistinct Pokémon. Why did it seem so familiar? "Actually, I'm sure the Tree wasn't targeting me, at least not when I entered."

"But you said it yourself; the Tree hunted you through the tunnel."

"Yes it did, but I didn't detect any malice in its energy signature until I panicked and started fighting back," I said. "It's possible – although I highly doubt it – that the Tree wasn't gonna hurt me before I provoked it."

Oak nodded. I could see he was as skeptical as I felt. Maybe the Tree really had regretted letting me pass and tried to repair the damage so to speak – I was still not sure why it would even let me in.

"So you didn't gain anything in the Tree?" Oak asked. "No fabled power bestowed upon you by the mighty Tree of Beginning?"

"Read the legends, too, huh?" I sighed, shaking my head and pushing some hair out of my right eye. "Unfortunately no, only this," I said and held up my hand, showing him the gray ring that I'd found lying beneath the portrait of Sir Aaron. "It stood on a pedestal like it was something special, but I haven't felt a thing since putting it on." _It felt powerful, too… _

"Can I see it?" Oak asked eagerly.

"Sure." I pulled the ring off and-

-the ring didn't move an inch on my finger. "What the…" I pulled again and again and again. The ring was stuck; it didn't even feel like it was moving on my finger when I pulled at it. I couldn't feel it squeeze on my finger; I couldn't even feel the fucking ring – it felt like it was… "It's stuck…"

Oak frowned. "You took it on today, right?" I nodded. "Oh. Well, er, should I get something to grease it with?"

"No, it's not stuck – it's just… stuck…"

"Okay, that explains everything."

"It's not squeezing my finger or anything," I said, beating at the stupid thing to get it off. "It's… like it's fused with my finger. It's _literally_ stuck."

I had no idea where those words came from, but the moment they left my mouth I knew they were true. I wasn't moving at the ring but at my skin. My new ring-formed, grey skin – fucking great...

But that wasn't right, either, it was still a ring, a ring merged with my skin. I felt a little sick all of a sudden. Oak was at my side now, I was so agitated I hadn't even noticed him rising from his chair. He took my hand and looked at the ring through a magnifying glass.

"There is something written on the ring," he said.

"What does it say?" I asked, a heavy frown on my face. A few moments ago I thought the ring was just some useless remnant of the past, but now it was just a freakish remnant of the past. "How do I get it off?"

Oak handed me the magnifying glass, looking even more confused. "No idea. But have a look at this…"

I looked through the glass and saw a small sentence written in a clear blue color.

THE AURA IS WITH ME

"Oh…" I had heard Riley saying that sentence over and over, never really taking any notice of it. Why hadn't I taken any notice of it before? The sentence was mesmerizing – beautiful in its simplicity, complex in its meaning. You see what's going on, right, Drew?

"The Aura is with me…" I whispered. Then I shook my head and felt like I had just been awoken from a very short nap. I was disoriented and dazed and-

The room was blue, or something was bathing the room in blue. I looked around; searching for the source of the light, but it was everywhere. Then I looked down at the most obvious answer. The ring was ablaze with a godly blue light. I looked back at Oak, fear growing at the edge of my mind. He was staring back at me, looking just as lost, just as confused and fucking scared as I felt. Then I felt something warm and slippery glide up my arm. Oak's quick intake of breath was the only warning I got before I noticed what was going on.

I wanted to swear, to scream, but something was blocking my voice from making a sound, and I could only watch in silent horror as the ring's grey matter _expanded_, twisting up my arm like a snake. It covered my left hand and arm, then my shoulder was eaten by the grey skin, and by that point I felt like killing myself. Fuck, what was going on! What was happening to me? It continued, however, ignoring my emotional state and continued down my body. My abdomen rippled with the utilitarian grey weave, shadows and blue light flickered over the grey skin.

Oak was screaming something into my ear, I couldn't hear it – I was gone. He pulled with all his power at the grey skin. _It hurt me_. It fucking hurt me like he was pulling on _my _skin.

It covered all of my lower-body now, grey boots growing on my feet and grey and silver lines on my knees and thighs. Then it went up my neck and to my mouth, and goddammit I couldn't breathe. Then it covered the rest of my head, blocking my line of sight, and then my vision flickered on, going in and out of focus before settling into an inhumanly perfect vision.

Then it stopped and I could breathe again. Blue ripples and dark shadows ran along the grey skin, and I flexed my arms, watching my muscles bulge powerfully. My whole fucking body was _blazing_ with power, blue lines of energy coursing over my new grey skin. It felt fucking great!

Then the pain came, and I screamed as my perfect vision turned black, my mind slipping away to a very familiar abyss…

_This time you're mine, Ash Ketchum!_


	5. Future and Past Collide

**Disclaimer: **Not mine_… _obviously. But it would have been awesome if it was.

**A/N: **Chapter five is up. It was oddly dificult to write this time, even though I knew where I wanted it go. Oh well, it's done now. Thanks to all that have put this on their alert/favorite. It means more than you'd think it does knowing that there is someone reading your story. Please, leave a review and tell me what you think or if you have any questions.

To Zatch Bell-01: Drew is the psychiatrist "interrogating" Ash as he gives his story to Lance. What exactly is going on will be revealed as the story progresses. I don't want to spoil too much. And thank you for your review.**  
**

To Mercenary Flyer: I didn't know there was a trope about Ash going on a journey because of his mother's death, haven't read all that much fanfiction yet. I have a plot for this story and sequel lined up, but if you could tell me some other tropes to avoid that would be great. And thank you for your review.

And thanks to you, Smu. You stand for half of the reviews alone. I've changed the summary a little, taken out what wasn't needed.

I don't know if May or Serena's surnames has been revealed. If they have, I missed it. So I made some up.

PS: Thanks to Pyrrhos Nightmare Dragon I've been made aware of a mistake I made. I've changed that. Again, if you've already read this chapter then there is no need to do so again. And thank you to Pyrrhos Nightmare Dragon for the review and pointing it out for me.

Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**Future and Past Collide**

_I'm not your fucking son, bitch!_

_Ash Ketchum "Red"_

_You're mine, Ash Ketchum…_

_You are different. Special. You're gonna go far, kid. _

_You're one boy against an entire army! Just what did you think was gonna happen?_

_You're beyond human perception, Ash… _

_This isn't a war ordinary humans can win! We need more – we need you to evolve…_

_You can save us; you have to… you have to._

Memories… my memories danced through my mind. Memories I barely remembered living flashed in front of my eyes like I was seeing my life on a screen. I saw the day Oak gave me Pikachu; I remembered every detail of the day like it had been yesterday. It was a Sunday, and it had been raining.

_That Pikachu is gonna be the death of you, Ash. _

_This little thing? It wouldn't hurt me._

_How did you do that? Last night it almost zapped me…_

The day I met Pikachu I was eight. It was over sixteen years ago, and I could remember what my mother was wearing like it was fucking yesterday. What the hell was happening? Where the fuck was I?

_You can save us, you have to – you have to, Aaron…_

_Aaron…? I'm Ash Ketchum, you delusional woman._

Memories define you, man, makes you who you are. But what happens when _something _use your mind as a dumpster, when memories and feelings not your own swirl in your mind? What happens then?

You change, Drew. The question is into what…

I wasn't human, I didn't feel human. A being so different yet so alike me was _invading_ me, incorporating what made it who it was into me. There is nothing more frightening than getting your identity stolen, expect getting your identity _erased_… just who the fuck was I, man? I was afraid I didn't know it anymore.

"_I have to do this!"_

"_You'll never be the same again. Can't someone else take this burden? Does it always have to be you? Let someone else take the risk for once…"_

"_You know I have to, Karen. I'm our only chance – the Tree is our only chance."_

"_It will be your death."_

"_Then I'll die. I still have to try."_

"_I'm pregnant, Aaron. You're gonna be a father! Have you forgotten that?" _

"_I'm sorry… so, so sorry…"_

Memories define you. Our choices define us. I had a certain feeling of déjà vu, like I had done this before, been in this kind of danger too many times before. I found it difficult to care anymore. And that could be very, very dangerous.

_Ash Ketchum, give it back to me. You're not worthy of this power._

It's funny, the first thing you think about when you hear voices is not how fucked up it all is, or how fucking crazy all this is making you. No, the first thing you wonder is who that mysterious person is. It hits you a second later, of course… the stress, the fear. I realized that I was sharing my soul with an alien force, and then I got angry – fuck it, my mind was for me alone!

"Who's there? Get out of my head!" I said, trying to turn my head around and look for the voice. The only problem was I didn't have a head anymore, didn't have any limps or nervous systems. The cords running through my body, sending signals when I should move or when I should _hurt_ were gone. I was a man without a body, only pure memories and soul.

_Give me back the suit!_

_The suit – what suit? _"Who are you? Where are you? Come out and face me!"

_ENOUGH TALK! GIVE ME MY SUIT! GIVE ME MY POWER!_

"What suit? What the hell are you talking about? Get out of my head, you fucker!"

I was having an out of my body experience. Ha! I was dust on the wind, the other being taking me along for the ride to the everlasting misery. We were surfing through Aura and memory, and suddenly the being was pushing at me, _gnawing_ at my mind. I felt like I'd been here before, done this before… ah, man, you get the fucking point.

Insanity! I was being pushed aside by darkness never-ending; I was being suffocated by Aura all-consuming. It snuck up on me; it throttled me from behind – _am I not human_? Was that mine or the other one's thought? I should have been scared out of my fucking mind. Maybe I already was because I could barely even feel my own thoughts anymore. I wasn't in any state of mind at all.

_I love you, Ash Ketchum. Is that not enough?_

Ah, why was it those memories that were picked out? The memories I tried to forget every day. But dammit it should have been enough, _she_ should have been enough. I mean, who could reject a girl like that? The kind of girl all guys dream about. She chose me and I turned my back to it all. But I was just so blinded by my rage and my pain and my guilt, revenge was all I could see. Love could never measure up to that kind of hatred…

I was slipping, my memories and regrets working as a more potent weapon than any Hyper Beam ever could. Love can make men stronger; can make us go through the fires of Hell just to do what is needed of us. But it can also tear you apart at the seams, Drew. It can fucking break you like nothing else…

I was slipping…

_Yes… let it all go. Give me your body, let me take control. I can make you powerful… or I could give you peace…_

_Peace…? _Peace was for the weak, man, for those without a backbone. I was many things, but weak was not one of them; yeah, I'm talking to you back there. No, not you, Drew…

Ahem, peace was for weak men without a backbone – men who didn't have the sheer balls to do what I've done. Its words ignited some of that age old brave – but oh so foolish – defiance in me. My body and mind and Aura were not for rental. I fought back, I didn't know how or what but I fought, clawing and slashing at everything that wasn't Ash Ketchum.

We fought through a maelstrom of darkness, feeling like I was in the eye of the fucking storm that raged over Unova all those years ago. But it wasn't your typical fight with arcs of destructive forces flung around; I wasn't sure how I was even fighting back. We were flying. _I_ was flying. I was finding it harder and harder to see – feel – where Ash ended and where Sir Aaron began.

But I was Sir Aaron, of that I was sure. No! I was fighting Sir Aaron, of _that_ I was sure. I don't even… never mind. Memories of courage and sacrifices and love and _being fucking human_ were bleeding into me, joining me; it all changed me in some way, or at least tried to.

_Give it up! Do you really think you can stand up to me, Ketchum? I've waited ages upon ages for this… You'll not be in my way. The Suit of Aura is mine! You hear me? Mine!_

Oh yeah, fucker, coming in loud and clear! Our wills clashed into each other, one minute we were me, the next we were Aaron, and in between we were a fucking new person all together. It was weird, but I slowly got a sense of how this worked, fighting without a body, flying with nothing but my intent. It was like controlling your Aura, all it took was belief – and a jump into the unknown.

It's that jump that set us apart, man. There're two kinds of people in this world, the ones that have the stones to jump into the unknown, and the ones that turn their back to it all and pretend nothing is happening. What person are you?

Jumping was the bravest thing I ever did, man…

_GIVE ME YOUR AURA!_

"IN HELL!"

_YOU'RE ALREADY THERE, YOU IMBECILE!_

_Not yet,_ I thought, pushing back with my soul and blood and _Aura_. I was winning now, my mind becoming more distinctive from the other being, I could see the difference between me and the other guy. And then there was a world beneath us, and there was a face on my enemy. Its skin was blood red and looked devoured of all humanity, dead – its skin was dead. Its eyes gouged out of its socket. It was screaming sheer insanity at me from beyond an invisible boundary I couldn't breach.

The face seemed familiar, I had seen it somewhere… but when? I could remember all, and yet I couldn't place that face. But I knew who it belonged to.

DIE KETCHUM! I screamed at me. No, _it_ screamed at me, Aaron screamed at me. Ah, fuck it all to…

"This is my mind!" I snarled, circling the insane being in front of me that tried to take over my body and soul. I took in every little detail about the… man in front of me, every tiny detail about the shield between us, looking for a way through. This was the fabled hero we still whispered about to this day? This was the hero we worshipped as the greatest hero of all time?

_NOT ANYMORE! YOU ARE MINE TO COMMAND!_

Would it stop screaming all the goddamn time? I still didn't have any limps to focus my Aura with; I was only a blue blob of energy. The world beneath me was all messed up, too. Crimson oceans as far as the eye could see, a sky in a forest green color above me, screaming down at us with intense beams of destruction, as if telling us that it was one second away from killing us both. I tried to find something normal, something that was supposed to be there, but everything just looked so _wrong_.

But nothing of it mattered; I might only have been a bubble of energy, but I was my _own_ bubble of energy now. I could feel myself again – feel my Power and my mind. I searched for a smile – I obviously found none. My mind looked for that special something deep inside me, that something that could set the world on fire with my intent alone. It was there just beneath the surface, as it always was.

I had won!

I sucked in a breath and the very fabric of reality _bent_ to my fucking will. Flicking and growing, my blue bubble of Aura flared up like a withering sun, banishing darkness never-ending, I overpowered the hostile Aura like it was a little Meowth. My energy rose within me, pillars of crystal-blue forces blazed to life, lashing out like fucking explosions. I was the sun, I was life; I was the fucking Boss again.

_What are you doing? Stop this… this madness! Arceus gave me that suit, only I can wield it to its fullest potential._

I didn't answer him; too busy gathering the immense amount of potent power inside of me. The ocean under me was moving away from me, great quantities of waves _running_ away because of the blazing Aura; I created a vacuum of stillness around Aaron and me. A beam of Aura surged from the sun I was creating and into the waters, working as an anchor for me – a link between me and this fucking world.

This was my mind, and I would make damn sure I was the only thing left in it when I was done.

This was me unleashed, man, this was me when I decided to roll the fucking dice – roll it and already knowing the outcome. I was the Alpha and I was the Omega. There were no _we_ anymore, Drew, only _I_. And I was about to kick some serious ass…

Lighting thundered above, the winds I had created turning into a vortex with me as its epicenter. My form was flicking with powers of Old Days turned real. Blue flames – which should have been so hot they would burn me to ash – danced around me. And then something clicked, the last piece of the puzzle settling into place.

I was ready; I felt it swift and sure.

"You wanted my Aura?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper in the thundering chaos. He would hear me – somehow I knew he would. _How the fuck do I talk without a mouth? Ah, fuck that, too!_ "Well, then FUCKING HAVE AT IT!"

I released the Sun of Aura upon the motherfucker that tried to eat my soul. Like fucking ecstasy, my blood was pumping pure fire through my veins as my intent guided the monstrous impossibility that was my power. An infinite power surged through the Globe of Aura, tendrils of energy crackling along the surface of the Ball as it _reached_ for Aaron.

_YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I'M AARON KALANOVSKI! I'M THE GUARDIAN OF AURA!_

"You're dead meat, pal," I said, as if we were only discussing the weather over a cup of tea. "There's a new kid in town, and this place is not big enough for the both of us…"

_BOOM!_

My attack surged through Aaron, blowing up like a fucking nuclear bomb. He vaporized instantly, his body and soul becoming nothing but dust in my self-made chaos. I set the world ablaze in blue flames; I set my mind ablaze in blue flames.

Aaron was gone, his demonic presence disappearing from my mind. I could breathe again, I could _feel_ again. His memories were still coursing through my mind, though. I was seeing Arceus again, but this time I was standing in front of the thing, this time it was me those godforsaken eyes were staring at. This time the power _bleeding_ of the Deity was pointed at me. It judged me. It turned me inside out, sifting through my memories like we humans turn a page of a book.

"_Ash! Ash, are you there! Come on, son – wake up!_"

Someone was screaming into my ear. The voice sounded familiar, but my mind was too groggy and sleepy to make the connection. Arceus was still gazing into my soul, and I was still pretty out of it. I mean, here was Arceus, the God of Pokémon – it wasn't supposed to be real.

I still didn't think it was real, Drew. It would destroy the purpose of our very lives. It had to be a vision, something that was playing tricks with my mind again. So I fought that, too, lashing out at the memory of a memory with my Aura. I sprung up in the memory, going from kneeling to suppressing fucking Aura Spheres at the delusion in a microsecond.

"_Ash? Are you there? What's happening?"_

Arceus _blinked_ at my defiance like I had only tickled it, brushing of every arcs and orbs of vicious blows. Then it narrowed its eyes at my show of resistance. Sorry, fucker, but my mind is a one man's land. Ha, biggest lie if there ever was one.

"ASH! STOP THIS! THE WHOLE BUILDING IS COMING DOWN!"

The Arceus imposter tilted its head to the side, taking me in like a curious child. Then it righted itself to its full height, towering over me like a fucking skyscraper, and released its power upon me…

I sat up with start, an Aura Sphere leaving my hand on pure instinct; Oak dived out of the way. Luckily for him, the Sphere was without a target. Otherwise it would have been professor no more…

The Sphere shot up, my eyes tracking its progress as it cleaved through the reinforced steel roof like a scissor through paper. I noted a lot of things in my confusion, holes like the one I had just made was fucking everywhere in the roof, the building was shaking and groaning, and debris was falling around me everywhere.

Oak rolled under his desk, probably saving his own life from one of the steel plates that missed him by an inch. I had to admire the agility he showed for a man his age.

I blinked in confusion again, noting for the first time that I was buried under a fuck ton of steel plates, that the steel plates were raining down on me. I couldn't feel any of it. Moving my limps, I checked if my cord of nerves running down my vertebra had been damaged. Everything worked and moved and felt as it should – or that's to say it felt fucking awesome.

Then something beeped in front of my right eye, a warning sign of some kind flashed, and my arm just acted is if it had a mind of its own. Breaking through the heavy steel, my arm literally flashed blue; I could see the energy working its way up just beneath my _dark-grey skin_ before it released into the sharp-edged steel plate that had direct course towards my head.

The thing vaporized before I even knew what I had done, what _it_ had done.

I broke through the steel, stood up and spread my arms like they were fucking wings. The very atmosphere seemed to sizzle in the room, an air of tremendous power settling around me. Then I brought my hands together and clapped.

You have to realize that I had no idea what I was doing – or why I was even doing it. It felt like something was guiding me, not really controlling, but giving me whispers of encouragement and guidelines.

It was manipulating me, man. It doesn't do that anymore, though – at least not so often anymore.

I brought my hands together and clapped, the air of tremendous power coalescing into something tangible. I breathed Aura into the room, making everything _stop_. The falling plates were all _vanished_ – blown away by an otherworldly power.

_My_ otherworldly power - oh yeah, that felt fucking majestic!

Oak moved out from under the desk, gingerly looking at the roof. Then his gaze snapped to me, and whatever he saw most how scared him shitless because he jumped back, almost falling head-over-heels over his desk in his eager to get away from me. He grabbed his desk for support, looking at me with so obvious fear I didn't know if I should be proud or sad.

"Ash… is-is that you?"

I blinked, quite confused. Then I remembered the dark-grey skin surging up my arm, my eyes snapped down and looked at my body. A tight dark-grey… weave of some kind was _rippling_ over my form, crystal-blue wisps of Aura running to and fro like lighting upon my body. It looked _alive_…

"Oh…"I uttered, but it wasn't my voice, at least not entirely my voice. There was something metallic to it, like it was going through some kind of vocoder, voice enhancer. You know those things that makes you sound like somebody or something else. It made me sound like this, Drew – a robot… "Yeah, I'm here… I think."

Oak removed his hand from the desk and walked closer to me, his every step looking like a war with himself – he wanted so badly to turn around and run away from me. You couldn't really blame him, could you?

"What _is_ that thing?" he whispered, coming to a halt. I couldn't help but notice the distance was a little bigger between us than it had been all morning. Couldn't blame him for that either…

"He called it a Suit of Aura," I murmured, noting just how much damage I had done to the room while being… out of it. "Guess the vertebra works as it should…"

"The skin, Ash… it's moving."

"It's incorporating with my nervous system, it's adapting to my Aura signature."

Samuel Oak looked confused – and more than a little scared. Smart man. "How do you know that?"

"It's telling me." And it was, small blue letters were blinking in front of my eyes, _initializing new DNA profile…_ _connecting with nervous systems…_ _scanning for Aura-code functions…_ and a bunch of other technology talk I didn't understand shit of. "It's joining me…"

"Joining you?" Oak was considering running away from me more and more.

"_Aura-code sufficient. Beginning visor transmission to Aura Guardian…_" the thing said aloud, I didn't think Oak could hear it. He didn't act on it.

Suddenly, I could use my eyes again; Oak's concerned face appearing in so high definition that I could see every single wrinkle on his old face like I was right beside him and not two meters away. Eagle eye, man, eagle eye…

Since the very beginning of my training with Riley, I had always been able to feel my Aura, always been left in awe every time I searched for that power. But what was surging through me now was so immense that it left me breathless. I could take on the Birds of Nature and come out on top, man. Fuck yeah!

Yeah, I know. It was a stupid thought. Heh… it's kinda ironic, don't you think?

"_Wow…_" I whispered, quite amazed at my new power – and quite irritated at my new voice. "_This feels fucking awesome!_"

"Ash," Oak said, gaining my attention. He pointed at something on the wall. "Take a look at yourself."

It was a mirror. I walked up to it, seeing myself growing closer and closer in the cut reflection; a great crack was running across it, probably caused by my actions before. It didn't matter, I could see myself just fine, and what I saw made me realize why Oak was so scared – it made me scared. I recoiled from the image, the big humanoid thing in the mirror staggered with me.

But somehow through the surprise I felt, another voice was telling me that I really wasn't all that surprised. That what I was seeing was actually exactly as it should have been. It was _right_.

My form looked as if it had been cut out in stone; every hard-earned muscle was amplified and highlighted to superhuman perfection. I looked like the bodybuilders on too many steroids. I tensed my right arm and watched the muscles bulged so powerfully I thought the grey weave was gonna burst. It didn't, it expanded like real skin, stretched along the muscles.

It flickered as I watched; waves of light and shadows chased each other like a movie on fast forward. Somehow I knew it was waves of Aura that the suit was leaking into its systems to keep it going, my Aura worked as a battery to power up the weave. _How the fuck do I know this?_

Aaron knew, and therefore I knew, as well. Pretty fucked up, huh?

My body was the battery powering this thing up, and in return it powered my body and Aura up to epic proportions.

Blue and red lines ran along my thighs, different markings kept flicking in and out of existence with my every breath upon the red and blue tissue.

My brain got a power up, too. I was remembering – but not lost this time – old experiences again. Every flimsy half-remembered thought jumped to my mind like something was highlighting it for me.

The suit highlighted it for me, of course.

With my mind in a spiral of old and new thoughts, experienced in new and old ways, I stared into my eyes – or I stared into where my eyes should have been. The crimson visor, shinning and completely opaque, on the helmet covering my face looked more like something you'd find on a Pokémon. The helmet was so dark you could almost call it black. The stubby snout beneath the visor looked like some advanced gasmask. I felt like I breathed fire through the damn thing. If I could just open the mask I could probably bealch my own Flamethrower.

I looked ugly as hell and felt awesome as fuck.

I turned around, my full attention on Oak again. But it wasn't just my attention that was on him…

The moment I turned my eyes on Oak's face, the thing I was wearing started acting up. A thin line scanned Oak's eyes and face, and I could see data run along the edge of my vision. A picture of a DNA structure flared to life in the lower corner of the left side, the word _unknown_ blinking below the image.

_Scanning failed… identity unknown… _

Ah okay, that was more than a little unsettling. But the fucking suit wasn't done trying to perform miracles. Suddenly, it started telling me other nonsense, like the subject's body temperature was above the normal levels, or the subject's eyes were wandering too much around, suggesting nervousness.

Kind of like what I did with you earlier, Drew. And then came my personal favorite:

_Identity – unknown:  
Probability of staying: 75 %  
Probability of running: 25 %_

_Ah, it can't do that, _I thought, looking with my perfect vision at Oak. I took in every detail the suit had shown me, the eyes that kept flicking all over the place like he was looking for escape roads or weapons to defend himself with, the thin sheen of sweat on his brow that suggested the nervousness.

_I have to test this,_ I thought; quite giddy all of a sudden.

"This is power!" I exclaimed, dramatizing my every word for more effect. Oak was so nervous he probably wouldn't notice how bad an actor I was. "With this power nothing will stand in my way. I'm gonna fucking massacre everything, and build a new world in my image!"

Okay, maybe not a performance worthy of an Oscar, but it got the job done. Oak was too scared to notice anything else than my words and the suit that had consumed my body. My suit beeped again.

_Identity – unknown:  
Probability of staying: 35 %  
Probability of running: 65 %_

"That's fucking awesome!" I whispered excitedly, as Oak etched closer and closer to the exit, trying to get away from the raging lunatic in the muscles suit…

* * *

_You could call that a rude awakening. It could have been so much smoother if the old owner would've just let go of the past and let another man take up the mantle. He wouldn't have been who he was if he did that, of course. _

_Yes, Sir Aaron still resides in this suit, but that day I took control of the suit – however much he detested it. We're still fighting; I still fight for supremacy of the suit. But he's slowly losing power, in the near future he will be nothing but a memory upon a memory. _

_But can I really blame him for going mad? His intentions were good to begin with, he wanted to use the suit to save people. And he did. He stopped the Dark War, ended the bloodshed and brought peace to the land. But… power like that changes you, experiences like war and loss changes you. _

_He sacrificed everything to get the Suit of Aura, to get the power to stop the annihilation. He saved us. But he was never the same again, like all other great and powerful men he wanted more. That want, that need drove him mad. He started fighting wars that wasn't there; he started seeing enemies that wasn't there. _

_Sometimes, I wonder why I haven't turned out like him yet. Maybe it's because I have allies, friends that can help me reload when things get tough. Maybe that's gonna save me. Save us… _

_I got the suit that day, got the power to change the tide. What chance did Giovanni have against a power that could do the thing I did to the Lab? But then things escalated, the enemies became bigger, the challenges became tougher. Suddenly, I wasn't the only overpowered being in this fight. As the fight in Vermillion showed you, I wasn't even the strongest being in this war. _

_But this was how it really started; the suit was like a gift sent from heaven, at least initially. Nothing is without a price these days. I embraced the power the Suit gave me with relish like any man would; I could be the difference now. Innocent people didn't have to fear because here is their savior, man._

_It was a lot easier in the beginning when I could make myself belief that there wasn't a downside to it all, that Aaron was easy to ignore and forget. Hell, he became easy to forget, but he was never the problem. Power can become a sleeping bag. If you think you're already perfect, then you'll never be. Seeking perfection means never letting yourself become satisfied – always strive for new heights._

_But that isn't the problem either; I have the resolve and determination to see this through to the end. I've been through too much not to…_

_No, the biggest problem, the greatest bump in the road was the suit itself. I know that sounds weird, the suit gave me all those badass powers, why would it be the problem? _

_I feel like a schizophrenic sometimes, Drew. On one side is the logical part. The computer… the suit. I see patterns and sequences; I make calculations based on probability – cause and effect. On the other side is the illogical part – the human. I see hope and dreams, I see a man of faith in me, believing in a better tomorrow, that I can give the world a better tomorrow. _

_These two sides are in a constant war with each other, fighting over what to do next, who to save, who to spare… who to kill. I want to be the best man I can possible be, I want to be that beacon of hope that people so desperately screams for. But then there is this… this voice that keeps – and no I'm not talking about Aaron. This is the suit itself – that keeps telling me that the good human is just an illusion, that the best man I could ever hope to be would tear everything down and start over again. Rebuild the world in my vision – fairness, logical… cold… inhuman._

_You humans are flawed; every human has flaws and strengths. It makes you human, different, and that's alright, that's… right. But I can't help thinking: if humans weren't so flawed, if every human had the same gig and rights, the same beliefs and hobbies, wouldn't we be free of conflicts. A guy like me, the horrible but fucking necessary monster in the shadow wouldn't be so fucking necessary anymore. _

_But then again, everything would be so fucking boring. It would take everything out of what it means to be alive. And even though I have a computer that tells me I shouldn't, I can't help but fall in love every time I see the pretty girl, or jump in front of a bullet every time someone innocent is in the crossfire. _

_Imagine a world where every woman had to dress and look the same, Drew. There would be no ugly duckling, but there wouldn't be any May Hutton or Serena Corneau. No Sabrina either – crazy bitch that she is. And wouldn't that be a shame?_

_Oh, Sabrina is looking at us from the next room, right? Oops__…_

_But I'll tell you one thing: taking a leak in this thing is pretty epic. It was build for a man, let me tell you that. My tiger is in a leash. Still don't get it? Ah, man. My cock is wired to a tank so that I can relieve the pressure, Drew. I can understand that cringe; I imagine mine looked the same when I found out. But it's not that bad actually; it sort of hugs you – kinda like when you're having…_

_Get on with the story? Get on with the story he says. _

_Sir, yes sir._

* * *

"Would you hold still?" Oak snapped. "This is hard enough without you squirming like that."

"Usually when somebody holds a knife to my head they're only looking for trouble," I said, trying, and failing miserably, to sit still and let Oak cut my hair.

"This isn't a knife, though," Oak said, grabbing a lock of hair and pulling it taut before cutting it off. I could almost see my forehead again, the human Ursaring gone, gone, _gone_ from my sight, man. I felt clean for the first time in… four years, three months and twenty six days.

Ah, fuck me.

When you have been gifted with an unexceptional brain like I had, living with the ability to forget the simplest thing you whole damn life like a fucking _human_, how weird do you think it is to suddenly realize you mind has been upgraded, Drew? That your mind went from having difficulty remembering what you had for dinner last night to suddenly remember what you had for dinner on this date fucking ten years ago.

It's called eidetic memory, man. You ever heard about those child prodigies? You ever heard about that _wunderkind _that solved the storage problem in the Ultra Ball when it was still on the drawing board? Eric Anderson was his name, I think – I _know_. I saw it on a news article out of the corner of my eye just before getting my ass handed to me by Team Rocket all those years ago. Good memory, man, _oh man_. Little Eric solved the problem we couldn't at the tender age of five because he could remember every single fucking sequence like a computer – a computer with a human mind.

I had become like that, expect Mr. Anderson was born with that gift. It was normal to him, he had been used to it his whole goddamn life – and later you found out he took his own life because it drove him mad anyway – but for me it was… _wrong_. I was Ash Ketchum; I was the guy that had trouble remembering everything. I wasn't some computer that could recall every little detail of my life.

Until now.

Even as I said there in Oak's bathroom, face in the mirror, still _raw_ from that Flamethrower the Heatran had almost _unwillingly_ killed me with, my mind was being upgraded like a computer. It all happened in the back of my mind, of course. If I didn't focus on it I could almost forget about it, but it was there alright, working, filing… _remembering_.

It worked like a computer, man. I was a computer…

"Ash?" Oak shook me a little, snapping me out of my memories.

"Sorry," I said. "Just spacing out…"

He had been a little shaken up by the madness of this morning, but he had taken it better than I had expected. Hell, I had taken it better than I had expected. The suit had glided of my body on command – just a simple thought and the suit was nothing more than a ring again.

We hadn't talked much after that. Oak had ordered me to take a bath – apparently I smelled foul – and shave myself. And now we were here, him cutting through my mane and me feeling awesome and terrified at the same time.

"Is it… you know…?" Oak gestured piteously to my hand, lost for words.

"Oh yeah," I sighed.

Oak gulped and focused on his task again. We acted as if nothing was wrong, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. We hoped, as people often do with their problems, that it would solve itself and disappear.

But when you stop to think about it, Drew, when you stop being too chickenshit and plunge your hand into the filthy matter, then you realize that my mind was working exactly as it had been doing when I wore the suit. Taking off the thing hadn't meant a goddamn difference. I was still just as inhuman.

Live and learn, live and learn. All you can really do.

We both knew it, but none of us brought it up. Avoiding the problems, man, we were just avoiding the problems.

But one day those problems are gonna blow up in your face, and then you'd regret not confronting them sooner. Trust me.

"Thank you for saving me back there," Oak finally said, most likely just to break the awkward silence between us. I had often been good at small talk back before I went into the unknown dangers of the world. A typical class clown, you could call me. Now I wasn't sure what to say, I didn't feel like I had anything to say. It's funny, the more thoughts you have running through your mind, the fewer things you have to talk about.

"It's no big deal, and I was the one that put you in danger to begin with, wasn't I?"

Oak nodded, seeing no sense in lying about it. "One minute you were looking at the ring, the next you were down and screaming and shooting those… ah, Aura Spheres – still can't believe you can actually do that – shooting at everything with that abomination on your body."

Heh, you could always count on Oak to get excited about these kinds of things. His life had been in danger, and still he was fascinated by my abilities – you couldn't take the Professor out of him, I guess.

"I can't believe it either, really." I turned my head downwards, letting Oak get to my neck. "I spent most of my search through Sinnoh feeling sorry for myself. Thinking about giving it all up, go back to Pallet and live the rest of my life in anonymity. But… I couldn't do that. I had a responsibility, you know. I had a commitment."

Oak stopped cutting through my hair, catching my eyes in the mirror. "Why did you come back now, Ash?" he sounded almost sad. "Why come back to this? I always thought you ran away because you didn't want anything to do with it?"

I licked my suddenly dry lips; I hated these kinds of conversations. "I didn't want to… but… we both know I had to," I finally said. "You can see the work of Giovanni almost everywhere. Do you really think it was Lance's idea to limit a person's party of Pokémon to six? No, Giovanni knows that a person with only six Pokémon is a lot less dangerous than a person with ten or twenty."

"So you're here to stop him?"

"I don't think I can," I said honestly, frowning quite heavily. "I could kill him whenever I wanted, but would that stop Team Rocket? You've heard about his Executive, right?"

Oak cringed at my careless speculation about killing another man, I wasn't the same little boy that came crying to him after mommy and daddy was having a bad day. "A man named Archer," he said, shaking his barely disguised fear off his face. "Yeah, I've heard about him. He was on the news last night. A very, very bad man…"

"Yeah, that he is." I could tell you stories abou little ol' Archer that would send you home with nightmares. "If I take out Giovanni another man – possible someone like Archer – will rise in his shadow. It would be an endless circle, a war without an end."

Oak began cutting again; his eyes seemed lost in thought. "What can you do then? I mean, Lance – for all his good qualities – doesn't seem to want to defy Giovanni."

Lance with good qualities? He hid them well if he had any. Nevertheless, I let the subject be for the time being, Oak and Lance had always been good friends, and I didn't want to make a conflict of interest in this situation. But even Oak wasn't that glad for Lance anymore, not after he let Giovanni go. "I'll make him; force him to take a side." I said. "If I can force Giovanni out in the open, if I can dig up enough evidence, then Lance has to make a choice."

"And what if Lance chooses Giovanni's side again? Like he did last time."

I caught Oak's eyes this time, wanting to make sure he understood just how serious I was. "Then Lance is a liability to the people of Kanto, and then I will terminate him from his position if I have to… by any means necessary."

Oak swallowed my words, probably deeming them words of craziness. But I could see the brilliant mind behind the man working them over, accepting the harsh words as the hard, unforgiving truth. "Hopefully it won't come to that," he said, putting down his scissors at the table. "There, all done. So what's next?"

I smiled, standing up and admiring myself. I looked like me again, didn't feel like me, but I looked like a handsome Ash Ketchum again. "Now we'll do some training. I have a new Pokémon to show you," I said, stepping past Oak. "And then we will go after Giovanni."

"A new Pokémon?" Oak breathed excitedly, following me out of the bathroom. I'd go back and clean up after us later. "What kind of Pokémon?"

"Oh, you're gonna love this one…"

* * *

_It changes me. The suit. It changes me all the goddamn time. Sometimes I only notice it after I make a decision I wouldn't have made before – it's subtle the little fucker. I'm a supercomputer in a human body; it's all kinds of fun and mortifying at the same time. I am a superhuman with an ordinary man's conscious. I am the Alpha and I am the _fucking_ Omega, man. Do you hear me laugh at the irony of it all, Drew? No, and that's because I don't laugh at a fucking misery, no matter how fun it might sound. _

_You look confused. No reason to be confused all will be explained in time._

_I jump out of a burning building at 79 stories after stumbling on my words in front of the pretty girl. Explain this to me, please? How do those two actions fit together? Let me tell you how it fits together, one of the things is something I want – in the worst and the best way – the other is something I have to do._

_Three guesses which is which. You're only gonna need one._

_But I'm making it all sound like it such a bad thing, don't I? That's just the little kid in me, still seeking sympathy. Old habits die hard, I guess. I remember every little detail of my life now, the good and the bad. I remember coming to late, brother. I remember crash-landing in Pallet Town on Charizard, screams and fire fucking everywhere – the bad. I remember Lance and Steven brushing off my pleas for justice, protecting Giovanni even though everybody _knew_ without a shred of a doubt that he was fucking guilty – the really bad. And I remember the hopelessness of defeat when I didn't even breach the outer security line of his base in Hoenn in my quest for revenge. Blastoise, Meganium, Rapidash all died due to my failure – the really, really fucking bad. _

_But there I go again, making it all seem like one big, fucked up tragedy. As I said, I remember the good times, too. I remember the sex with May after the Hoenn League so clearly now it almost makes me feel like the old, perverted teenager again. I remember Sabrina coming on to me at a party, showing an inch more cleavage than she had to. And Serena – gentle, warm, kind, beautiful Serena – that made me sound too much in love, right? I mean, nobody is perfect. Ah, she has her bad sides. But I like them, too…_

_Okay, I _am_ in love with Serena… and May – definitely not in love with Sabrina. She's just too crazy. I get the feeling she just wanted me for the sexual satisfaction. It's all part of the story, Drew; I can see you're intrigued – and aroused. Heh… we men have a one-tracked mind when it comes to those things. Ah, no need to be shy about it, it's natural. They're both hot as hell __– you only know May, of course. Journalist and model __– brains and beauty. That's a dangerous combination._

_But you begin to see a picture now, right? The story I weave. Lance just texted someone called Pierre Bognan – funny name. Give me a sec… ah, here it is. Thirty-two years old, worked his way through the ranks in the G-men force unit. He lost his left arm in an accident involving the evolution of his Charmeleon. He was demoted after that to a simple errand boy for Lance – Mr. Bognan is on his way to pick up the girls now. Lance hopes that May and Serena knows who I am. _

_They both do, but they won't tell you anything._

_Breaking point? Yeah, everyone has a breaking point. Serena is a nurse, she'll break first under torture. But if you start torturing them I can assure you that none of you'll leave this building alive. Well, you might survive with a missing limp or two – just because you had the balls to talk to me._

_We both know you won't lay a finger on them…_

_Moving on, I showed Tyrunt to my… accomplish – still won't say his name to you. He didn't really care all that much, he never was that into Pokémon._

_Oh, by the way, I'll tell you later how I did that with Pierre Bognan. Most of what I said about him is classified information, right? You'll find, Drew, that there is nothing classified for me._

* * *

"Okay! Tyrunt, come on out!" I said, almost shouted excitedly as I threw out the Poké Ball. Tyrunt coalesced out of the brilliant white light, form hunched over and snout opened and panting. The dinosaur seemed _happy_ to see me. I hadn't trained with it much since I caught it, but we had established a bond.

Or it didn't want to eat _me_ anymore at least.

"A Tyrunt?" Oak asked, face filled with excitement at the possible meeting with a new Pokémon. "I've never seen one alive…"

"This one is, and…" Tyrunt sniffed the air, looking around the field. We were standing in Oak's backyard, different kinds of Pokémon in every direction. Some of them were my own, some of them were Oak's, but most of them I had no idea where they were from-

-Tyrunt stopped sniffing around, its eyes locking in on Professor Oak. Suddenly there was bloody murder and _hunger_ in its eyes. It growled in the back of its throat and grouched on its hind legs, and Oak was already moving the fuck _back_, getting his distance between him and the beast.

I stepped in, cutting the Pokémon off. "Hey! There is dinner later," I said, almost growled. Tyrunt seemed ready to attack me to get to Oak, not backing down in the slightest. "_Hey_!" I snarled, putting more emphasis on the word. "You don't want a repeat of what happened last time we fought, do you?"

_That_ seemed to snap it out of its bloodlust. It probably remembered the ass kicking it got. Okay, our relationship wasn't that great. I should have put more work into Tyrunt, but I had just been so caught up in my own training I'd forgotten all about the little beast.

"Sorry," I said, turning to Oak when I was sure Tyrunt wasn't gonna attack. "Thought I had gotten further with it than that."

"That's okay." Oak looked out of breath, still holding his sides. "How long have you had it?"

I scratched the back of my head, trying to recall just how long it had actually been. The answer popped to my mind like I had been running a search on a computer. "Six months… three days… twelve hours and… twenty-two minutes right about… now. Wow…"

Oak looked more than a little put out by my display of the impossible, looking unsure if he should comment on it or just ignore it. "Well… six months – you said six months, right? – is not that long, really. I've heard that Tyrunt is a very difficult Pokémon to train from Lance."

"Yeah, I've heard that, too. Imagine how it's gonna be when it evolve into a Tyrantrum."

"I'd rather not," Oak said, probably thinking about a twenty-five feet tall Pokémon trying to cook him for dinner. "They're dangerous enough when they're like _that_." He gestured to Tyrant's small size. That Pokémon would go from reaching my waist to reaching the fucking skyscrapers when it evolved – almost like the transformation a Magikarp went through when they evolved.

"You're right, of course," I said. "Which is why I'm gonna deal with it from the start before it evolves into something uncontrollable. Hopefully when it finally does evolve, I've shown it who the boss is."

Oak frowned at me. "What are you planning?" Did I imagine the exasperation in his voice? No, I didn't.

I frowned right back at him. "What?"

"I remember your kind of Pokémon training, Ash," Oak reminded me. "Most of your opponents called it insanity…"

"There's a purpose hiding behind the chaos, man," I said. "If you want to be the best, then you have to take a chance. Why do you think I'm the youngest winner of a League Championship – without killing any of my opponents Pokémon, as well?"

He's exasperation was clear as the sun now, but I could see the affection behind it – he was proud of me. That made me kinda proud of myself, too. "Just don't get yourself killed. Okay?"

"Yes mom."

Oak rolled his eyes, and I turned back to Tyrunt, finding him looking curious and attentively between me and Oak. I'd kept my _other_ senses on him, Drew, don't worry. The Pokémon was at a stage in its training I liked to call… puberty. It was starting to get an interest in – the interesting things around it, but it knew that some of them were hands-off stuff. Those things are most often those that were the hardest to leave alone. It wanted to eat meat – humans – but it knew that I wouldn't allow it.

This was also the perfect time to test the capabilities of my other new thing. I rolled my shoulders, craned my neck, popping a joint or two. All part of the show, man. "Okay, here goes nothing… _the Aura is with me_," I said, knowing with absolute certainty that it was the password that triggered the damn thing.

It happened instantaneously this time, no drawback, no other being hell bent on tearing my mind the fuck apart, no integration between flesh and machine needed this time – I was just Ash Ketchum in new gigs, man. The dark-grey tissue, which looked and felt so much like skin it seemed unreal, twisted its way from my finger to the rest of my body in a fucking flash of a second. One minute I was human and all white skin, wearing my clothes and shoes, the next I was naked and grey – but without my thingy dangling around, of course. Heh, couldn't shook the ladies into coma, huh, Drew?

You really are a girlyman, you know that? So sensitive…

My feet and head were covered by some material – light and fucking strong to the touch. I felt light in this thing, as if gravity had stopped working around me. My Aura – oh, man, my Aura – it was on fucking fire, going directly into my veins like a drug. Blue lights ran down my body, illustrating just how much energy I had coursing through me.

I felt good, like really, really _good_, man.

Oak walked up to me and touched my new skin, his face set in stone. He pushed his forefinger into my abdomen, and we both looked as the skin drew inwards like real human tissue. "It feels like human skin," he said, quite amazed. "Extraordinary… can you feel this?"

"Yeah, it feels normal, but when I was buried in steel that felt normal, too."

"Hmm, I've no idea what can do this, Ash. I'll have to analyze it to see what it is." He shook his head. "You're standing with the future on your body, son."

"I'm pretty sure it's a relic from the past. Actually, this thing is ancient if I'm right," I replied. "But enough about this. I have a Pokémon to train. Stand back, if you please."

I turned my eyes on Tyrunt and went into a fighting stance. The little dinosaur was staring at me with obvious interest. "Do you remember when I caught you?" I asked the poor bastard – I was gonna kick some scaly hide ass, man. It grunted at me. I took it as a confirmation. "Good, fight like that again. You can begin when you're ready."

I barely finished my sentence before it was _moving_. Faking a left and going right, it released a ball of dark matter at me, hoping to catch me off guard.

I was never caught off guard anymore. Suddenly, as the ball of darkness came flying at me, the suit beeped and writing appeared in the lower left corner of my visor screen, flashing by my eye so fast that I almost didn't catch it even with my new upgrade. My super brain caught it, of course. _Dark Pulse – the user releases a horrible aura imbued with dark thoughts. It may also make the target delusional for an extended period of time. _

The Dark Pulse had barely reached half-way to me when I _acted_ – or the suit acted. I'm still a little unsure about that. I jumped into the thing, probably looking like a crazy and suicidal maniac to Oak, and _slapped_ the thing away with an open palm – it didn't even tickle, Drew. It should have killed me or driven me crazy, but it didn't even fucking tickle.

Dark Pulse – when performed on humans – could put its intended victims into a coma where they either woke up some time later after having suffered traumatizing nightmares, or they never woke up at all.

Tyrunt had taken the words _fight hard_ very literally, but he couldn't have foreseen just what he was up against.

I never broke my momentum, fucking _blurring_ as I ran. Tyrunt's eyes went wide with surprise and fear and goddamn pain as my fist collided with its snout, making it tilt over backwards. I mowed it down with my fists again and again; it felt like the suit was edging me on. I didn't even have to think before my arm moved, hitting the beast with a power and precision that I didn't even understand myself.

Tyrunt never stood a chance.

As I said, Drew, it felt _good_. Too good.

I stopped myself, feeling oddly sad about having to break off the fight already. Tyrunt was lying on the grass, panting and _hurting_, but otherwise fine – I had only roughened it up a little. Then an icon on my visor of some sort zoomed in on the panting form at my feet. I wondered for a moment what was going on before my suit beeped again, and an image of a Tyrunt flashed to life on my screen's upper right side. _Tyrunt – a Pokémon rumored to exist over one million years ago, mostly considered extinct today. Little is known about the Pokémon except that it evolves into a Tyrantrum and is a Dragon/Rock Type._

I blinked. Had it just identified Tyrunt – and why did the words look like something that could have come out of my Pokédex? Then I started to _remember_ again. I realized that I hadn't seen my Pokédex since I accidently put on the suit. The thing had been in the inner-pocket of my jacket before, but when I had taken the suit off it was gone…

_Did – oh. Shit._

Yeah, that's right, Drew, the suit absorbed my Pokédex into its systems. It found something useful and took it as if it was nothing. I admit I felt a little scared when I realized that, too. I mean, if it could absorb something from my jacket, without taken the jacket, what else could it take from me?

But the fear was quickly replaced by excitement, the suit was _awesome_ – and it had just given me a grand idea.

"Professor," I said, helping Tyrunt to its feet again. The little fucker wouldn't do me anything again. Not until it evolved, at least. "Does Lance still have that secret database with the identities of people living in Kanto?"

Oak had been standing a little ways off to the side, acting as a spectator to my first fight in this thing. "Yeah, he asked me to make a checkup on its systems two months ago. Why?"

"Is it still located at the Indigo Plateau?"

Oak was confused with where I was going with this… and a little suspicious. "Yeah – why?"

I smiled, feeling more excited about the idea of breaking into the most secure base in the region than I probably should. "I have… kind of a crazy idea."

"Coming from you, those words make me feel _so_ comforted."

This time I definitely didn't imagine the exasperation.


	6. Make a Thief Out of Me

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokémon, not the Manga or the anime. Definitely not the games.

**A/N: **Chapter 6 is up - enjoy, read and leave a review to let me know what you think.

* * *

**Make a Thief Out of Me**

_Power is not measured in the __strength _of your body.  
_It's measured in the __strength _of your heart, Ash.

_-Oak_

I was running – and it felt great.

I was ducking – without the need to, really. Nothing could hurt me in this thing.

I was slashing – with powers of Old and make-believe, man.

I was Legend!

"You said it wouldn't be that far out," I spat into the mike, feeling more than a little displeased with the situation I'd been put in. "I've been running through this damn forest for two hours straight now!"

And I was ranting – like a teenager getting sent to his room.

"Ash," Oak sighed, his considerable patience was being tested by my adolescent annoyance. "If you'd been dropped off too close Lance would've noticed."

"Yeah, but did Charizard have to drop me off over two hundred klicks away from the target?" I ducked quickly as a branch appeared out of nowhere, more of a reflex than any fear of it actually hurting me. Of course, I saw it coming long before I was even close to it. Old habits just die hard, man.

"Does it really matter with the speed you're performing?"

I guess it didn't. As I said before, I was running, but when I hit full speed it's not really called running anymore, is it?

I was _blurring_, my body leaving a flimsy blue imprint in the air behind me, an Aura-shadow it would later be called.

Trees and fields of grass zoomed by my vision like I was speeding up time itself. I was slashing the _trees_ aside if I couldn't avoid them; I was slashing them aside with my bare hands. It was dark, and the creatures of the night were waking up around me now. Normally that was something to be scared about, but tonight I said give it your best shot, fucker.

You're wondering where I'm heading, right, Drew? Well, I was heading for the Indigo Plateau, crossing the Victory Road faster than any trainer ever had, faster than any man had any right to. I remembered this Road vividly. The Last Test of Will the Gym Leaders called it when I competed in the League – false sweet words meant to frighten those not worthy of the League Challenge.

Back then it had been a nightmare crossing this road, a nightmare that took weeks to get through. Weeks I spent fearing wild, hungry Pokémon and freezing cold nights like this one. But today even the cold didn't affect me, the suit kept my body warm and in top condition, ready for the challenges ahead.

And I needed to be in top condition if I were to have any chance of pulling off what I was about to do. Oak and I had gone over the plan last night, him trying all night to talk me out of it and I dead set on going through with it.

This felt important somehow, I couldn't really explain it – not even to myself. But I knew, as did Oak, that the ability to identify every person in Kanto could come in handy. Who was on the watch-list, who was with Team Rocket, who was against? All questions the database could help answering.

It could provide me with some targets in this goddamn war to come – and some much needed allies. Those allies still seems far away, though, we are still fighting each other. _You_ are still fighting me.

I sliced through the landscape, jumped over cliffs like they were only dumps in the road. I was the reaper prowling the moonlit wastelands of the Victory Road, man. I wasn't avoiding the Pokémon and their awesome powers of Mother-fucking-nature.

They were avoiding me.

"This feels awesome!" I howled to the sky, as I made a _blurring _jump from a cliff to another, the racing river over hundreds of meters below me looked amicable and welcoming to me. I landed in a crouch on the other side and took off running full speed without missing a beat. "You should try this, Professor. It's amazing – there's so beautiful out here."

"Ah, I feel fine from here, thank you very much," Oak said from the other side of the link. It hadn't been difficult installing a comm-link into the Suit of Aura's systems. All we really did was putting an earpiece in my ear and when I took it on the suit _absorbed_ the thing just like the Pokédex. Easy as pie, too fucking easy, but who was I to complain, right?

The mountains hugging me from all sides were all part of the same line of mountains I had journeyed through with Riley – all of them lining up to Mt. Silver. I could see Mt. Silver in the distance, most of it covered in ice, snow and an alluring sense of mystery that kept attracting travelers to test their strength. This was the mountains that cut through Kanto, splitting the Region in two. Of course, Lance and the League had begun carving tunnels and roads through the stones to make the journey through easier.

They should be done by now, I had to check up on that. It would make import and export a lot easier if trucks and other vehicles could cross over.

I had always wanted to test myself against the harsh winds and biting colds of Mt. Silver, but I had a feeling it wouldn't really be a test of my strength anymore – I am that awesome, Drew.

Sorry, every time I think back on that day I can't help feeling the same excitement and sense of invincibility. I mean, think about it, how would you react if you could suddenly do the feats I can do?

You'd be just as crazy as I was – the rush, man; the rush takes you beyond even the skies…

But still as I ran there, breaking every record set by man and Pokémon alike, I couldn't help but notice that something seemed… missing. The suit was – of another world, but it was still not as much as I _knew_ it could be. I could be faster, I could be stronger. I remembered flying with nothing but my Aura as wings.

_But I've never flown with my Aura,_ I thought, mid-step. The step turned into a jump as I had to avoid a group of Deerlings seeking shelter for the night. _So how do I remember flying?_

Sir Aaron used to fly with this thing – and therefore I remembered flying it. You could say I flew it in a past life, man. A life not really my own, but integrated upon my memory like fire upon grass…

I was still me, though. For all the insanity and memory the crazy being poured into me when I took on the suit, I was still myself, Drew. Just myself.

And so much more, like normal fire turned into everlasting Fire – take note of the way I say Fire, shrink. It's with a capital F, man.

Immortal? No, I'm not immortal; at least I don't think I am. Why did you suddenly get that idea? Turned to everlasting Fire. Why – oh, I see your point. Well, it was just figuratively speaking.

Oak was overseeing this… operation, mission; call it whatever you want. He was getting live feeds from the suit's visor output. Again, we barely did anything to establish the connection, the suit just connected with Oak's systems in the lab by itself, and then Oak's screen showed what I was seeing.

Easy as pie, man. Live and learn, bitches. I learned the hard way – I'm still learning the fucking hard way, man. Always and forever one step behind the Monsters and Legends trying to bury the world in fire and insanity. But that's for later, and you already know how some of it goes down, or at least you should.

At the time I thought it was freaking awesome, Drew. The suit did exactly what I wanted it to, without me having to really guide it or anything. It just seemed like an extension of me, really. So what if I changed a little here and there? My power and brain was growing beyond what I could possible train it to – even if given lifetimes to do it.

I was _truly_ beyond human perception. I was willing to sacrifice a little of myself if it meant saving the world. Victory costs, remember? I said that before.

Truer words have never left my mouth, man…

"Ah, you always held yourself back from all the fun," I finally answered him, wondering when I was supposed to be left breathless by all this inhuman running. When was my limps supposed to begin tiring? I had been running for over two hours straight and my body didn't even show signs of the strain it _had_ to take on me. "How long is there till I should see the damn thing?"

"You should be there any minute now…"

I broke through the tree-line and saw the fucking light of the night, man. The Indigo Plateau. Standing among the mountains and snow, the castle of the Pokémon League towered up, casting a shadow of hope and endless possibilities. This was the base of the true power in the Kanto Region – or so they would like you all to think. This was the place where only the truly strong individuals succeed.

And the fucking corrupt bastards without a conscience.

Blocked by a twenty-meter wall of interlocked blast-hardened concrete, flat and featureless except for an occasional reinforced hatch or door to let in workers and guest and Pokémon trainers was the Pokémon League. Towers and skyscrapers arched up, twisting up between each other. Crystal-blue globes tipped the towers, and I knew from experience that those globes could split open and reveal canons with so much firepower that the very world would shake if they unloaded.

Harsh protection methods, but fucking necessary protection methods. You never knew when an army of batshit insane Pokémon came knocking on the door, right? Right? Right…

The center of the base was peeking out from behind the towers and the concrete wall. A white, square, average-looking building that looked both ugly and so fucking impenetrable that I seriously considered just dropping it all and go home again. No can do, of course, the fate of the world counted on me. I had to take the chance, man. There was a serious upgrade waiting for me on the other side of the fence.

A double door made out of reinforced steel was a couple of hundred meters in front of me, the normal entrance to this majestic place. I could probably break the doors down. Yeah, no problem, but that would eliminate the element of surprise, and that was kinda the only thing I had going for me this night.

If I broke through that door, if I went in fucking hot with palms blazing hellfire, I would have a fucking regimen of opponents on my back within two seconds. I felt like I could take them if it came to that, but I had _kinda_ promised Oak not to kill anyone.

Besides, this was my allies to be in the war to come, right? What kind of example would I set if I started killing my own pals, hmm?

I really, really regret not taking the cheap shots when I had the chance, Drew. I wasn't the one that started it, at least; I still hold the moral high ground over you fuckers. If such a thing exists in this world…

* * *

_By now you must realize what I was about to attempt, right? What is going to happen next? Lance certainly is – the man is palling by the second – yes, idiot, it's that day. I did it and it felt good. Heh…_

_No, Drew – it wasn't a training exercise or whatever shit they stuffed down your throats. It was me, I had to make a distraction, you see, and it was the only option I had. No, nobody died – it was abandoned. That was the reason I picked it out, I'm not completely inhuman._

_Getting into the base is ridiculously easy, and with the suit's power boost they might as well have put a welcome inside sign up for me. Guards took turns patrolling the twenty-meter high concrete wall, going on top of it and keeping an eye on the world outside – it reminded me of all those medieval movies you see about a kingdom that needs defending. Ah, if you replace the swords and arrows with guns and pocket monsters, of course._

_But as I said, getting inside was easy. The guards moved in groups of four. Taking them out, even with their guns and rifles were easy, they never saw me coming, man. I covered in the shadows, jumped between stone and trees, I circled closer and closer to the wall, and then I jumped like a fucking frog. _

_I landed right in their midst. For a second we stare at each other. Their eyes are filled with disbelief and fear. But I'm just standing there, looks back at them and do nothing. I'm __not _even sure if I am reveling in their shock or just shocked that I had actually made the jump. Twenty meter is… pretty high, Drew. 

_Of course, the shock wouldn't immobilize them completely. This is some of the best trained men in the world, men who have sworn to protect Kanto against all threats and enemies, men who have sworn their very lives to a cause greater than themselves. These men are badasses who have trained for years to put down punks like me._

_These were G-men, Drew. G-men. Have you seen the kind of training they go through? If someone dies while in training, they bury him doing lunch and continue the rest of the day as if nothing had happened. Well-trained sociopaths with guns and Pokémon – and a cause they believe in. These were Lance's men when he went to war. _

_I mowed them down, I was the cat playing with the mouse; I was the man playing with my food. Two of them grunted in shock and raised their guns at me. The other two was already going for the Poké Balls strapped to their belts. _

_The suit is working for me, scanning their faces – no dice obviously. That's why I'm here, man. The suit keeps scanning, though. Suddenly, I'm getting the make and model of the guns in their hands; I'm getting the species, gender and fucking _stats_ of the Pokémon inside the Balls they're going for._

_It's blinking warning and danger and threat detected in front of my eyes, and if I'm a complete and utter idiot the suit also points them out for me, points their weaknesses and strengths. But I don't need it to tell me what to do. I'm already moving, doing what the suit shows me to do a moment later. _

_I whistle appreciatively as I grip the first man, clenching the hand that was holding the gun. It cracks beneath my fingers, man. I don't even stop to consider before spinning my body around, holding on to the arm and making it crack at the elbow. The man goes down screaming, but I don't care – this is fun. I'm enjoying myself. I'm into this. I spin around myself, my hand extending towards the screaming man and putting him out of his misery with a well placed and severely underpowered Aura Sphere to his abdomen. _

_I'd promised not to kill anyone – the man was only unconscious, but he wouldn't really feel all that well the next many months to come. _

_They stop when they see my Aura Sphere leave my palm, Drew. This time their shock literally immobilizes them. And I'm moving, man, fucking them up so bad their mothers wouldn't even recognize them. It feels good. I'm beating the crap out of guys that could make Gym Leaders look like a fucking kindergarten. _

_I am good. I'm reveling in it like a drug addict revels in his next fix, man. Just as sinful – just as fucking addictive. _

_You understand now, right? How this feels? What power can do to a man? It changes you, makes you something you didn't use to be. As I said, the true measure of a man is what you do with power once you receive it. Does the power control you, or do you control the power? _

_Back then I definitely wasn't in control. I mean, sure, I could stop myself from killing these morons, but was it me that stopped us or was it the suit that just didn't care? You tell me? _

_I'll tell you later what I mean._

_Now you're really scared, though, right? DON'T LIE – sorry, don't lie to me. I can see right through that kind of thing. Every sane man would be running the fuck away from me by now. Why are you here, Drew? You accepted this job because you thought you'd be protected, right? You thought that those chickenshit bosses of yours would have your back when you confronted the Devil. _

_You realize now that they left you with a man out of control. A man more machine than human. _

_Any sane man would be scared – and you're a coward just like those men behind the mirror. You just thought you had something to gain going in here. Is that why you are here? A promotion? _

_Fuck that shit; I'm not helping you get a promotion, man._

_Oh well, moving on with the story._

_I stashed them behind the corner of the building, my partner and I had figured out when they turned shifts. I knew I had a thirty minute window to perform miracles and break into Lance's office and steal his database. _

_You didn't know he had a database like that, did you? Only four persons beside Lance did. Professor Oak, the man who incorporated the data into the system, Clemont, the man who build the damn thing, and Michael and James, the two men who gathered the information to complete the database. Two of those four works for me __– or did work for me_. Damn it all to Hell, man_… _

Moving on_, I stashed the G-men behind a building and set out for the square building in the center. The same building we're in now – yeah, Lance, that's how I could make my way through this building this morning when I turned myself in for this… questioning._

_I went up to the front door and… adapted._

* * *

I pushed my way through the door, suppressed a cringe when the door hinges creaked into the room, echoing all around me like a stereo sound. The room was a big storeroom, boxes and shelves filled with all kinds of junk were scattered across the cold steel floor. A staircase was twisting its way up to a door on the wall in front of me, the only way out of this room beyond the door I had just opened.

All this was exactly as Oak had said, but all this was also really only taken in by the suit and fed to my brain, my own eyes and focus were caught by the man leaning against the wall to my right.

He stared at me. I stared at him. I wondered what must have been going through his mind in that moment. _Oh, there's something you don't see every day,_ or maybe it was more like,_ what the fuck is that?_

Probably the latter.

"What the fuck?" the man gasped, jumping back from me and confirming my hunch. Suddenly, there was a gun in his hand, and my suit was providing me with useful information about the make and model all over again. _How the fuck do it even know the make and model?_ From what little I had gathered from Sir Aaron's memories, guns and other firearms wasn't exactly common back then.

"Hey," I said cheerily, for some reason the gun pointed at my head didn't make any alarms go off in my head. "You wouldn't happen to know the way to Lance's office, would you?"

He gasped in fright again, gunshot echoing in the storeroom as he shot me directly between the eyes, man. I was dead meat, I was seeing my maker again, I was going up to fucking Arceus – one last challenge coming your way, buddy.

I opened my eyes, seeing my vision split by a crack in my visor where the bullet had hit. I was alive? What the fuck? I was alive. I was still fucking breathing, man! My heartbeat was pumping pure adrenalin through my body, as if defying the fact that I should be dead. I gulped a vast amount of air down my lungs just to make sure that I wasn't imagining things.

_BANG!_

_BANG!_

_BANG!_

Now that's just excessive, man.

Gunshots echoed in the room, cracks appeared in my visor, my pulse jumped a little more every time the man shot me. I reveled in that sudden jump of my pulse, that telltale sign of my continuing existence. I reveled in my power as I grabbed the gun out of the man's fist and clenched it to dust in my hand; I reveled in my power as I reared my fist back and brought it into the fucker's face.

He smashed into the wall and crumbled to the floor, looking just as flaccid as a Goldeen out of water. He was still breathing, though; my suit told me, ragged breaths and weird wheezing sounds leaving his heaving form. I must have broken something inside that body because the sounds leaving him definitely didn't sound right.

I wasn't a trained doctor, and my limited experience was usually when I'd to strap myself together after an accident in the field. You learn to survive when you traveled in a world where the next animal you could meet might burn you with a breath before eating you. But this was well and truly beyond me, I contemplated for a moment just leaving him there. I had a mission to complete, and I was already lagging behind the schedule. But back then I still had a conscience.

And I wasn't the only one on this mission, I had a man smarter than he had any right to be and a thing smarter than _anything_ had any right to be with me. My suit beeped and images ran down the sight of my vision as my visor slowly started _healing_, the four cracks disappearing from my sight. I heard Oak suck in a breath on the other side of the comm. "My god," he whispered. "Ash, are you alive?"

"Yeah… I'm fine, didn't feel a thing," I said, trying to hide how shaken I'd been. The suit must have disguised my fear because I sounded far calmer than I felt.

"Thank Arceus," Oak said hurriedly, I got the feeling he really wanted to talk about something else. "Just what is that suit?"

"A doctor apparently," I replied, watching as it showed the skeleton of a man – the unconscious man's skeleton to be exact. Some of the bones were blinking red, not much trouble figuring out what that was supposed to indicate. "Do you understand any of this?"

"Yes, he's fine – well, relatively speaking, of course. He'll live."

"All I need to know," I said, already turning and heading towards the staircase. "Okay, where from here, where from here?"

"Ash! We can't just ignore this. He shot you! You should be dead!" I reached the staircase without any trouble, hoping that nobody had heard the gunshots, hoping that I wouldn't have to fight my way through a regimen behind that door that stood in front of me now. I, of course, knew that there was nothing behind the door. I knew where all my enemies were and I knew how many they were. Knowing was my greatest gift and my biggest pain in the ass. "That suit is _not_ normal."

"What makes you say that?" I asked, voice laced with barely disguised sarcasm.

"Did you know the bullet wouldn't penetrate your helmet?" Oak asked.

"What will I find beyond this door?"

Oak sighed. "A long and dark hallway, it should be abandoned, but then again there shouldn't have been any in this warehouse either."

This time I sighed. "So… expect the worst, huh?"

I opened the door. It didn't make a sound, thank the masters above for small mercies, and I could make my way through the room. Barely any light, just as Oak had said, but I could see just fine anyway. The corridor was long and narrow, walls made out of the same cold, reinforced steel as the storeroom. There were no side doors leading into other rooms or offices, just a door at each end of the hallway. Whoever designed these rooms clearly lacked any kind of imagination, or maybe it was just supposed to make the men who worked here feel less welcomed. Lance was known for appreciating his solitary lifestyle.

So here I was, creeping as quiet as possible and as fast as possible, thinking dark and terrible thoughts. Had I known the suit would be that strong, that it could hold of bullets like they were nothing? Had I known it would regenerate its cracks?

No, I hadn't, but somehow the suit had told me without me really realizing it.

Not an easy task, Drew, let me tell you that. But I didn't have time to dwell on the subject; I could see enemies beyond the walls around me, circling me on all sides like bugs. They didn't know I was there, of course, but they would soon. And then the fucking regiment would be here, pissing on my parade, man.

I made it through the corridor without another incident, opening the door at the end of the road and seeing a whole new world. Oak was filling my earpiece with waypoints, objectives and obstacles, and I hugged the wall hurriedly, trying to avoid detection of the fuck ton of League workers, guards and G-men milling about on the platform below me. Luckily, the door didn't creak this time, huh?

"You should see another abandoned warehouse now," Oak was saying into my earpiece. I wanted so badly to tell him to fuck off with that bullshit, but I feared the men would hear me if I got going too much. "Make you way down the stairs and into the Sector South."

I took shelter behind the railing, poking my head out every now and then, looked for the blasted Sector South – I know I didn't need my eyes to see, but old habits just dies hard, man. The room was just as square as the rest of the building's rooms and was divided in two floors with the upper floor being a narrow floor path hugging around the walls with a view to the floor below. There was two staircases to the floor beneath me on the other side of the room. I could see four tables stacked along each other, men and women sitting there and chatting benignly among them. An aroma of fresh baked bread and what smelled like Milktank and Tauros reached my nostrils even beyond the helmet.

My mouth watered, and it was then that it occurred to me that I hadn't eaten since I returned to Oak three days ago. I wasn't even hungry. And that made me more than a little wary. I've always had a healthy appetite. Was that the suit's work, too? Didn't I need to eat anymore? But I liked eating, man. It was one of my favorite things in life – after sex and sleeping, of course. Did I mention I overslept the day I got Pikachu? And had sex with the stunning and just plain hot May Hutton? I think I mentioned May.

Men were coming through a door with plates filled with meat, and all I could think about was _what kind of workplace servers dinner to their employees at fucking 2200?_ Not anywhere I've ever worked that's for damn sure. I felt a little violated for having to sneak by the buffet.

But I'd a job to do, I looked for Sector South, seeing signs flash in neon-blue colors over each door. There was Sector North below me – I had to use my Aura to see through the floor – along with Sector West to my right and Sector East to my left. Oh, and look and behold, my jolly good fellow, Sector South right across from me.

I just had to cross a room full of starved jarheads – no biggie, right? Sir, yes sir.

"The door should be directly across the room," Oak said, probably wondering why I hadn't moved from my position. Wasn't he getting my feed? "You can't miss it; it has signs and everything."

"Can't you see what I'm seeing?" I whispered.

"No, the walls are blocking the feed. It should clear up when you get to the next room."

"Explains a lot."

Oak either ignored my comment or didn't hear it. "Just make you way to the next room and I'll see what you're seeing again."

_Thank you, Oak, much appreciated. You wouldn't happen to know another way – otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to start drawing blood._ But I was saved by the bell this time, because suddenly the speakers started to crack to life, and the room became deadly quiet as the men and women waited for the announcement.

"_All security personal, please report to Sector East, all security personal, please report to Sector East,_" A cool, female voice told us in that typical monotone, businesslike voice. "_Please, do not be alarmed,_" it said further and followed with the standard, "_this is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill._" Just so even the slowest John of the bunch below could get the fucking point.

The boogeyman was amongst them, man. I was staring at them from the shadows and someone had found out by now.

"But you should have _at least_ ten minutes more before they changed shifts," Oak exclaimed, sounding quite frantic. "They must have changed the timetables…"

"You think," I whispered, looking down at the chaos. Men and women were scrambling over each other to get to their posts, going in and out of the Sectors like ants. Not ten seconds after that infuriating voice started speaking was I alone in the room – and with all the delicious and, apparently, much unneeded food.

"_All other personal are to report in Sector North, please._" That voice was driving me nuts faster than everlasting fire scorched the motherfucking Earth, man. "_Do not be alarmed. Do not be alarmed._"

_I'm sorry, but can you repeat that last bit? Don't think I quite got it right,_ I thought, as I stood up from my hiding spot. I reached the stairs in five long steps and went down, noting the food just standing there. I spent a moment drooling over the delicious-looking meal, feeling more human than I'd in goddamn lifetimes. It irritated me that I didn't feel any hunger at the sight of the feast, but I did feel desire, man, fucking glorious desire…

I moved on, no sense in dwelling on something that can't be changed. The door to Sector South opened when I stepped up to it; another hallway was revealed to me on the other side. It was all clean and sparkly walls and floor, grayish-black doors lining along the corridor.

I had reached the office sector.

"Lance's office should be on the other end of the Sector," Oak said. "We might just have caught a lucky break with this."

"Yeah. No – not really. I still need to get out after getting the database."

Oak _hummed_ on the other end. "Shouldn't really be a problem for you, should it?"

"The clock's tickin', I just count the seconds, man," I said, descending stairs and goddamn stars twinkling almighty. Or something like that, I was alone in the universe. I am alone in this goddamn mess of mine… "Roll with the flow, professor, you taught me that," I trailed off, whispering nonsense to myself.

"The clock's ticking," Oak agreed, though he sounded confused. He ignored my strange babbling for now. "Take a right here."

I did, scanning the room beyond – empty – and opening the door. Way, way behind me, the security people were checking the rooms and halls surrounding the place where I had stashed my earlier victims. I had this… urge, an itch that needed scratching so fucking badly; I was tripping for a fight, man. I wanted something to test my strength on, something to show off at. If I took my time, if I drew out this operation and mission and whatever else you'd call it, maybe, just maybe they'd reach me before I was done stealing from Lance.

Me against an army of G-men, Rangers and their Pokémon: I know who I'd bet on that's for damn sure.

I ascended stairs and descended others, I breached security sectors that was abandoned by the people looking for me, and all the while I felt like I was walking into the lion's cage, man, I felt like I was walking into a trap. This seemed too easy and, of course, it was too goddamn easy. Ahead of me, beyond two steel walls and three hallways was Lance's office, my enhanced Aura-sight seeing it clearly like I was in the office.

Lance was sitting over his desk, back hunch over and exterior deeply worried and passive. On the desk in front of him was a request from something called Team Rocket Safe and Care Department, the paper was requesting more money to a new scientific discovery. What kind of discovery the paper wouldn't say, I had a guess, though. I could see the inner battle play out over Lance's face; he didn't want to _donate_ any money to the organization, but he knew the kind of shitstorm he would face if he didn't would be massive and possibly fatal.

Outside his office were three guards that kept watch. I had no doubt that if given a second or two; I would tear them apart silently and without trouble. Lance would be just as easy, smashing the door inwards, take a running jump and I would be in his face before he knew I was there. Quick and efficient, and nobody would get hurt. Well, nobody would die, at least.

That was the only thing I had promised, after all.

I planned to do just that, my mind already setting off to the office, only problem was that my body was moving in another direction. Taking the door to my left, I found myself ascending a stairwell up to where I knew the roof would be. What the hell, man? I felt as if I knew what I was doing even though I definitely wasn't aware of any higher plan or order.

Something – one guess what – must have taken pity on me, because suddenly I was seeing what I was about to do as if it was my own goddamn plan, my next cause of action streaming through my mind like I was just making it all up on the spot. I could see the purpose behind it, the higher meaning. The sheer brilliance in the simplicity of it – it was _smart_ this crafty fucker, but also just so fucking scary. I wasn't in any kind of control, I wanted off, man. I wanted out of it. But it wouldn't let me; I was going with the flow for now.

I reached the roof now, feeling some of the control slip back into my brain. It snuck up from behind and settled back into my unconscious and instinct driven awareness. I walked up to the edge of the roof, seeing darkness never-ending on the night sky, moon and stars twinkling down at me. I felt like they were reveling in some secret that I was slowly becoming all too aware of. I drew my gaze down to the base I had breached, seeing with my eyes and Aura the men and women looking for me, their flashlights scanning the darkest corners of every square.

They would never find me now; my next plan was bulletproof and all too perfect, created by an ingenious AI that was slowly assimilating with my brain. Sounds fun and cool, right, Drew? With fear of sounding like an ungrateful _sonuvabitch_, I would say that it's the best thing that could've happen for you chickenshit men and the worst thing that could've happen to me…

I lifted my hand, gathering so much potent, all-destructing power so easily it made me feel kinda terrified of myself. Flashing crystal-blue, my hand was bathed in an otherworldly glow of Aura as I slowly pointed my palm at the abandoned warehouse directly besides the building I was standing upon now. My suit and Aura was scanning through the walls of the building, making sure that I wasn't gonna kill some random bastard. I got the feeling the suit didn't care one bit, but I had won enough control back to make it care.

Or maybe it just didn't give a flying fuck as long as I went with the plan. As I said, scary stuff some of this, and not all that happy most of it.

One almighty blow of my Godly Fist of Justice – yeah, I'm gonna call it that – and all the men in the building beneath my feet was gonna run like all fucking hell to get out, to see the chaos unfold. Lance would give me all the time in the world to step inside and steal the database, and it was all without anyone seeing me steal it or anything. I wasn't even stealing it, only copying it.

Yeah, I know it's still stealing, but Lance wouldn't know anything about it. He didn't until I just told him here today.

I released an Aura Sphere so gigantic that it almost looked like a second sun; I was strongly reminded of my battle with Sir Aaron in my mind when I first put on the damn suit. The Sphere was released directly into the building, making it blow up and setting the night on fire. The windows burst to pieces by the sheer pressure of my power, and the ground and mountains around the Pokémon League shock like I had created a goddamn earthquake. Fissures tore through the concrete ground and the building was being torn apart, a burning wreckage was all I left behind – but no body count.

Ah, okay, I was must definitely scared of myself. That wasn't even full power and I had almost destroyed the place.

"Oops," I said halfheartedly, not really feeling all that remorseful, which wasn't such a good thing, I know. I was kinda proud to be honest with you; I must have looked like such a fucking cool asshole standing on the top of the building with a burning fist and the burning house at my feet.

It was first there I heard that someone was screaming into my earpiece. "ASH! What the hell have you done?" Oak? Oak! I had completely forgotten about the poor man. Why hadn't I heard him before? Ah, the suit blocked him out because he would have tried to talk me out of this plan, right, sweet little software of mine? "You just killed all the people inside that building, Ash!"

"It was empty," I said, searching for Lance and finding him easily. He was already making his way outside. I could see men and women coming this way, too. The plan had its drawbacks, but still it was the only way if Lance wasn't to know about the real purpose behind all this. If he knew someone was after the database the list of suspects would be very short indeed – another thing the suit had reminded me about that I hadn't even thought of.

"You hope," Oak sneered through the link; I could almost feel the scorn in his voice.

"I know," I said calmly, so calmly my voice sounded hollow and devoid of any emotions. "I checked before shooting it up." I didn't wanna tell him that it was actually the suit that had seized control of me and made me do it. I had a feeling Oak wouldn't take it so well, which was kinda understandable, I guess.

"We'll discuss this when you return," he said, sounding like a father telling his son off. Hell, if anyone could do that with me it would be him. Arceus knew I would just tell my own father to piss off.

"Yes, sir," I said, opening the door and descending the stairs when the coast was clear of Lance. I was in complete control again, software and man becoming one with each other for a time again… until next time the man needed another push in the right direction, of course.

Goddamn human emotions – and fucking machinery of perfection, they just didn't mesh that well at times.

I went down to the right floor and turned left when I came upon the same hallway I had been in before, seeing Lance's office, all abandoned and free for the taking two steel walls and three hallways further ahead.

I set off in a light jog – if such a thing exists in this thing – and crept through the hallways and rooms with steel walls, noting that the inventor stayed the same through all the rooms. People were assembling outside now; Lance was giving out orders and preceding the investigation of the sight. I had to admit he was doing an efficient job, no sign of the indecision and fearful restraint I had come to known him for.

He was being a leader and a good one at that.

Too bad he couldn't be like that when it really matters, Drew. Then this fucking mess might never have happened.

By now I had reached his office door, I just needed the password to access the room. Good thing I had a suit for that kind of hacking, right? My visor screen was filled with numbers and equations, letters and words before I even thought of how to get passed the door; it was filing and searching away at the endless possibilities.

Twenty seconds later and I was inside the office. The password _Claire_ was not really that much of a surprise; humans tend to be very simple creatures when it came right down to it. Claire is Lance's protégée, and from what I can understand he became more attached to her than strictly professional, but eh, I digress, it's not any of my business anyway.

_Psst_, Drew, I just made Lance uncomfortable. He's sweating buckets right now. Ah, gotta love the power of love, right? It can make even the most hardass guys like Lance blushing like a little girl.

"Okay, I'm in," I said into the empty room. "Where is the database?"

"It should be in the second drawer on the right side of his desk," Oak whispered, probably living himself into this too much because of the link to what I was seeing. He sounded nervous. He sounded bloody excited. "It's a little black box, not bigger than your hand."

I went around his desk and opened the instructed drawer. And there it was, a black little box no bigger than my hand, just as he had said. I had a hard time imagining that little box to hold that much power, but maybe that was what the world had evolved into. Maybe I was just becoming part of that evolution now. With monster killing machines hiding all over the world we humans had to have something to fight back with, right?

I took the thing out of the drawer, keeping all my senses on the search going on outside, and put it on the table. "What now?" I asked Oak. "Do I do something specific to open it?" The box didn't seem to have any openings or fabrication marks as these things usually had. Usually they came from Hoenn these days…

"I've no idea," Oak said. "I just incorporated all the data Lance gave me into a – eh, you could call it a memory card and that was all. I only see the data on a computer once every year to make sure it's still working probably." Oak paused; I could almost see him thinking on the other side of our link. "He must have had someone else designing it for him."

"He couldn't have done it himself?"

"No, Lance isn't exactly the technical type of man – he's kinda like you in that regard."

I grunted, getting an idea I was a hundred percent certain wasn't my own. "I've a feeling that's slowly being… _altered_."

"What do you mean?" Oak asked, sounding quite confused. I had a feeling Oak didn't really like the new me. "What are you doing?"

"Watch this." I lifted my hand up and touched the black device, working through a memory that was both fresh and new and over a millennium years old, a memory that was not really all that mine and yet was a part of me like everything else that was coursing through this fucking suit.

I was storing the database within my suit's software.

"Ash? Ash! Please, don't do it again. We don't know what it will do to you."

"Stop trippin', I'm trippin' off the power," I said, almost sang – I felt all kinds of terrified and elated at the same time. This was just coming to me like lighting on a cloudless sky. "This is not _nearly_ as hard as it looks. Heh…"

It was not nearly as hard as it looked because I wasn't doing anything; my suit was, though, working through data and encrypted calculations faster than a supercomputer. I was seeing names flash over my visor like ending credits on fast forward. The little black box was getting _drained_ by the connection my suit established the moment I touched it, copying and imprinting and fucking stealing the data so efficient nobody would be able to trace it after I was done.

Three days ago, I wouldn't have understood shit of what was going on, but now it was clear as day and right as rain. The process was understandable, whereas before my… upgrade it would have been a bunch of encrypted gibberish that wouldn't make any kind of sense what so ever. Not to a human mind, at least.

_You're beyond human perception now, Ash, start acting like it._

Okay, Riley. We'd do it like you wanted, straight up and to the fucking point, goddammit! The names stopped coming and my suit beeped, my vision filled with a deep blue color. And then writing appeared, and if I was dyslexic the thing read it aloud for me, too:

Initialize systemize sequence.

Upgrading…

Assimilating new data into Core Functions…

Assimilating…

Sequence completed. Suit of Aura activated.

First when it actually told me did I realize that I hadn't been able to move, the suit had taken control again to upgrade its systems. I had been so engrossed in its downloading I hadn't tried to move.

"It _worked_!" Oak breathed into my earpiece, as my vision returned to normal. I moved towards the only window in the room, knowing that it had a view over the square below and the burning building on the other side. I removed the black curtains and searched for a face to scan among the men and women, my faceplate zooming in on the ground. "I didn't know you could do that," Oak wondered aloud.

_Me neither,_ I thought, focusing on a woman walking by at the edge of the burning building. My suit responded to my focus instantly, a picture of a DNA profile flared to life in the left lower corner of my screen. But instead of the word unknown, a picture of a woman appeared, light-skinned with high cheekbones and smoky green eyes. Had it been any other time, I would have been going all in for that girl. Below the image, her name blinked:

Identity: Patricia Todd  
Probationary Agent of the G-men corps  
Began training March 12. 2010  
End of first training period set for March 15. 2014  
Todd grew up with her mother in Saffron city…

The text about Todd life kept scrolling by my eye as I read, I filled the profile away for later use – the girl was fucking hot, Drew. Don't judge me. It worked… it fucking worked. "Did you see that?" I asked. "It worked, man."

"Good, now get out before they find you," Oak replied.

I nodded, moving away from the window and letting the darkness of the room consume me, already feeling ideas and suggestions of my escape plan seeping into my brain. I couldn't help but laugh, this was gonna be easy – and fun.

* * *

_I must admit I felt more than a little hostile of the suit when I got home. I mean, losing control of my body and getting ideas that I knew I would never have thought about was a little… frightening. Ask yourself how you'd feel when some motherfucker chose to mess with your brain and freewill. _

_Thought so._

_But maybe it was a necessary step, maybe it was needed for mankind as a race to survive. You can't say it hasn't saved our asses more than a few times these past few weeks. Have you never wondered how we survived __before the technological revolution_? Haven't you ever caught yourself wondering just how mankind has been able to survive for millenniums with creatures like Aerodactyl and Charizard among them? We should have been fried and gone extinct centuries ago. 

_Yes, yes, I know how we survive today. We have weapons big enough to leave fucking planets waste. Pokémon might not have an intelligence on par with humans, but they're not completely retarded. When they see a plasma canon the size of a skyscraper they usually turn around and fly away. And Poké Balls is every man's thing today – I get how we get by today. _

_But think about it – almost ten years ago, when I started as a trainer, you got six Poké Balls after getting your license and that was that. You didn't get any more until you earned 'em. Today trainers are lazy because Poké Balls can be bought for a low price at the nearest fucking supermarket. And that's one of our other current problems, but I will get to that later, man. _

_But just think back thirty years – or perhaps even twenty. How did we survive then? Without Poké Balls or excessive, but fucking necessary safety installments? I don't know, but I've a theory, care to listen? Of course you do, of course you do. That's why you're here, isn't it?_

_Let me give you an example: A Tyrantrum, fierce, proud and strong as a bitch in heat. Put a man in a cage with it and it will with absolute certainty eat him, then you put another man in, and after that another one and another and another… _

_The first time it eats him – with relish. It will probably eat the next five men, too, because it just eats that much. But after the sixth or seventh man the creature becomes satisfied, its hunger becomes satisfied. And then you put another man into the cage. What do you think it will do, Drew? _

_It leaves the man alone – because why the fuck should it care. It got what it wanted. Now it's just a satisfied monster waiting for its nap. And that's why we survived back then because unlike humans, Pokémon has very, very few needs and dreams and _thoughts of tomorrow_._

_We humans adapted over time, it took us centauries to get to this point, but we have envisioned this age for centauries – no, that's not just something I make up. I've memories from the past, remember? I know this shit. _

_We have dreamed of Poké Balls long before anyone ever created them, we have dreamed of cities with skyscrapers long before we ever dared to make them. Pokémon evolves in a flash of brilliant light, humans evolved with time. Humans survived through the indomitable strength of the human spirit. We weren't the strongest, biggest or fastest, but we were the smartest and the most driven specie. So we became the biggest and fastest and goddamn strongest. _

_But, eh, I digress, that's just my opinion. But wild Pokémon aren't really the problem anymore, right? We both know that what attacks us now aren't wild Pokémon, but Pokémon controlled by something much, much more dangerous: a human. _

_You humans have gotten to the stage in your evolution where you're the coolest kids on the block, where the neighbors are nothing more than what you want them to be. And because of that, organizations like Team Rocket are rising from the ashes. War between the Regions has become the norm rather than the exception – we have to have our daily dose of conflict somewhere, of course._

_Kanto used to be the Region nobody dared to fuck with. We had the strongest trainers, we had the newest technology, the smartest scientists, we had everything – we were the alpha and the omega, and when others had a problem they came crawling and begging for our help._

_That is changing; I see a pattern slowly reverting back on us. Kanto became filled with lazy and arrogant people who only saw what the Region could do for them. Because of that, we're getting overtaken by Hoenn who are expanding and evolving as fast as we did ten years ago. They just didn't stop where we did. _

_I told you about Giovanni's lab in Hoenn, right? Yes, I did. He probably has more of them there because he saw the way the tide was turning. We are on the edge of another invasion, man. I'm afraid that even if we manage to stop this shitstorm we are currently in, the next will be upon us with a painful, excruciating vengeance. Hoenn is building an army for that purpose. _

_And, of course, Giovanni is prepared to sell out his home Region if necessary. He doesn't care shit that this was the place that made everything possible for him, that this was the place he was born and grew up in. The only thing he sees is possibilities, and Hoenn is filled with them. _

_Giovanni is a survivor and a good one at that._

_But maybe I'm overreacting… maybe the problem isn't nearly as bad as I think it is. And maybe I can have a foursome with Sabrina, May and Serena. Not-fucking-likely __but man's gotta have dreams, right?_

_So we need to step up, up our game, turn the tide, do fucking something. And that's why I didn't kill Lance today because no matter what I feel about the man personally, I know he is the strongest trainer in the Kanto Region and if an invasion comes we'll need him to be there. _

_Well, he's the second strongest trainer – after moi, of course, capiche?_

_But no matter what, Drew, I'll be there, fighting and defending our Region – I made a promise…_

* * *

"The party after the announcement is gonna be held at Silph Co. Industries, and is rumored to be hosted by Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City and James Smith, the Director of Silph Cooperation." I was slouching in Oak's lounge, listening halfheartedly to the news reporter in the television. My body arched after the workout I'd sustained with Charizard the last couple of hours. Getting used to the suit took hard work and lots of practice, but I was slowly getting the hang of it. "What the announcement will reveal has been speculated about ever since the press conference was announced – rumor has it that a new and improved Poké Ball is being launched, but so far we have no evidence to support the claim…"

I grunted, turning my attention to the only other person in the room – not counting Pikachu on my shoulder, of course. "So… what do you think?"

"Hmm?" Oak said absentmindedly, staring at the screen speculative. He snapped his attention back to me a second later when the program ended. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"What do you think?" I repeated, gesturing to the now turned off screen. "About this new Poké Ball. Think it's true?"

Oak nodded. "It is. I was a part of the early development of the Ball, but I quit before it really got going."

I frowned, seeing the dark shadow pass over Oak's face easily. "Why?"

"It's called a Master Ball, Ash," Oak said, the name didn't leave much to the imagination, but it kinda served its purpose. You were damn sure what it did, at least. "It was created for one purpose, catching Pokémon of extraordinary powers – without fail."

"Is a Poké Ball like that – a… Master Ball – even possible?"

"In theory, yes," Oak said. "If you can create enough storing space for the Pokémon's DNA particles to be rewritten and stored into the Ball then theoretically it's quite possible, simple and brilliant, really."

"But wouldn't too much uncoiled energy make the Ball implode in on itself?" I asked, the ring on my finger throbbed with eager, egging my curiosity on. I had a half mind just letting the subject go and tell Oak I wasn't interested just to spite the little fucker. Of course, the ring didn't want to let me do that. Or maybe I really wanted to know about this – let's just go with that, Drew. "I mean, the power of, let's say, a Charizard is enough to make a Poké Ball unstable if it's caught as a Charizard because of all the raw, unrefined energy coursing through the Balls systems. But if it's caught as a Charmander and slowly tamed with time, then the normal Poké Ball wouldn't have a problem controlling the energy levels when it finally does evolve."

Oak frowned at my words, knowing that I didn't use to be _this_ smart. He chose not to comment on it – again. "Yeah, well, there is a long way from theory to practice, but it can be done," he said.

I nodded, if Oak said it could be done; then it probably could. "But why did you leave the project, then?"

"It's a Master Ball, Ash. Think about what that kind of power can do in the wrong hands. The power to control any Pokémon is literally in your hand with that Ball. I didn't want to create something that could upset the established orders and laws so easily. It was… unethical, I thought."

We became silent after that. Oak was kinda hitting a good point; humans with too much power could do terrible things. Sir Aaron and the suit was proof of that. I had seen what the power of a normal Poké Ball could do to a normal man's psyche, what couldn't a Master Ball do?

You'd think that was something Silph Co. had thought about, right? Hell, maybe they did and just didn't care. There was profit to gain by creating a Poké Ball with zero percent failure. It was a fucking gold mind just waiting to be dug out.

"I'm invited to the party, you know," Oak said, gaining my wandering attention again. "Honorable guest of the house the invitation says."

_Yeah, I know you're well-liked fucking everywhere, you don't have to rub it in my face,_ I thought of saying to him, but I didn't. It probably wasn't meant as bragging even though it came of like that. "Of course you're, you're the great and wise Professor Oak," I said instead, not sure I quite managed to hide the envy in my voice. Dammit, I wanted recognition just as anyone else – beyond getting shot at by my enemies.

"Ah, don't say it like that," Oak said amiably. "What I meant to say was that I don't really care for the party and wondered if you'd go instead. That way, you could show people you're back from the dead. You still have quite a lot of fans left."

"Ah, I don't really think suit and tie is my kind of thing."

"I've heard that May will be there," Oak said, looking like he had found the winning hand at the Poker table. "She's covering the party as a journalist."

"Even more reason to stay away, then," I said with a pleasant and well-practiced fake smile. "She doesn't need to get involved in my life."

"Well, maybe it will be good for you."

"Not for her."

Oak sighed, a fight with himself crossing his features. "Giovanni is gonna be there."

I blinked, a sadistic pleasure peaking up in the back of my mind. "When is the party starting?"

Heh, now Oak looked like he didn't want me to go. "Eh, eight PM, I think."

"Awesome, but I don't have anything to wear."

"I'll get them to pick you up a little earlier so you can buy some clothes before the event," Oak assured me.

"Great, thanks," I said, before frowning. "But can I borrow some money – for the clothes, I mean."

Oak blinked, looking at me with obvious confusion. "Ash, you already have more money than I've ever had in my life," he said. "You won the League, remember? You should have enough money to last a lifetime."

Oh. Heh. I forgot about that – not really, I just hated the way I got the money. Didn't want anything to do with it. But maybe it was time to make peace with the past. Or some of it, at least.

I had a bank account! Little Ashy-boy, all grown up now…

* * *

**A/N: **Well, that's that. Ash broke into Lance's office and got what he came for, and furthered his war against Team Rocket. Next chapter will hopefully be up by next Sunday. But no promises.


	7. Fill My Heart with Lovin'

**Disclaimer****:**Been here before, done it all before. I do not own Pokémon.

**A/N****:**Chapter 7 is now up, sorry for the delay. This is my longest chapter to date, reaching almost 14000 words. A couple of new characters will be introduced in this chapter, some familiar faces. This will also be the last "introduction chapter". After this the real plot of the story will begin, hopefully with suitable epic and mass-destructing battles. Ash's journey has only just begun.

* * *

**Fill My Heart With Lovin'**

_He didn't seem human, he was the monster __in the closet.  
__Yet he's the most real human __being I've ever met._

_-Drew Anderson_

The game had changed.

Fighting and surviving, I could manage. Defying and spitting in the face of the Devil was easy enough once you got over that goddamn limit every man has. That specific limit of the sordid, broken soul of a man with the power of the past on his finger.

The Ring of Aura, I now knew it was called.

_It_ told me. It whispered its name in my sleep.

I could fight, I could burn and _burn_, I could defy and fall in love with women, note the plural, but I couldn't fucking dance.

"We don't have to dance, right? Because I've never danced, you know." I felt like a teenager before his first date. I never tried it myself, obviously. Coming from a poor family where you were the unwanted only child meant that you weren't particularly popular amongst all the other cool kids in the yard. I never went to any prom because nobody wanted to go with me.

Yeah, can I have a sad melody for the sad prick in this corner, please?

"You'll be fine," Oak said, watching me walk around nervously from his chair in front of the fire, a glass of scotch in his hand. Fucking bastard. It was getting late, and I had a party to prepare for tomorrow morning.

But I couldn't sleep. "You don't know her like I do." I ran a hand through my unruly hair, my mind in turmoil of excitement and fear; I realized that I probably didn't know her all that well anymore, either. How long had it been since I last saw her? Three years? Five? Oh, man…

"I never thought I'd see the day when you were afraid."

"I'm not, but, professor, the game has changed! The nature has changed…"

"The nature?" Oak asked, frowning.

"The nature of everything, the nature of me, of the war, of Time and Space – we can't be sure of anything anymore," I replied, trying to avoid the shadows cast by the fire stove. You never knew what could hide in those flickering shadows, man.

To you, I might seem paranoid, but trust me, you'd not be better off if you had this fucking thing messing with your brains.

Oak sighed and leaned back in his seat, rubbing his careworn face tiredly. "You're scaring me, Ash. Ever since you came back, or put on that suit, you've been acting different."

He'd only seen me for a few hours before the suit had changed me in ways no man should be, only seen a mere glimpse of Ash Ketchum when he wasn't invaded by the power that be, and the powers of Old. You don't understand a mind fuck until it screams at you from across the border – you don't see the change until you look in the mirror and see a complete stranger.

I wasn't really afraid of May Hutton, though, I was afraid of what she could make me. I was afraid of her allure and charm, of her curves and beauty – the swell of her breasts could send my heart pumping faster than the racing insanity of a Dragonite turned mad, Drew. She could make me a better man; turn me into the good guy that didn't want any part of the fight to come.

She had done so before.

She could dull the edge of the only hope for our continuing survival. And that was the whole point, I had become that. The hope. The edge. I was our salvation. The Ring chose me! I wasn't just some punk that had a flair for Pokémon and battles. I couldn't allow myself to lose sight of what had become my life.

But it was _hard_, man. I don't want to sound too much like a pussy, but she could make me soar to new heights of ecstasy and break me completely at the same time. Ring of Aura and Suit of Aura be damned, she could _tame_ me. And that scared me to death.

"When will the chopper be here?" I asked, as I stopped my restless walking and looked at Oak, still mindful of the fucking flicking shadow. I felt as if it was _reaching_ for me. I remembered the shadows and flickering lights that ran after each other over my suit's weave, the shadow reminded me of that.

Aaron's suit, the suit, the Suit of Aura – not mine, you son of a bitch…

Ah, okay. Still a little paranoid, I'm afraid. Can't help it, though, the Suit, the Ring, it takes you beyond this world and into the next. A link between worlds…

Don't mind the ramblings, Drew. Just ramblings of a man lost in his own gratification. And in love. Still not sure which is the most dangerous, and wasn't that a sad thought.

"08:30 in the morning," Oak said, his narrowed gaze studying me. He's face was unreadable, and yet so helplessly open. He wanted to save me from myself – I'm well and truly beyond saving, though. I've damned myself to a path I see no way out of. Please, show me a sign! I fear I'm breaking.

I was breaking, yet I would never break, something inside me wouldn't allow that. In the past, I could always count on my fighting spirit to see me through to the end – no matter what end that may be. But I didn't have that spirit anymore; it was a limitation in the line of duty and war, and therefore a liability that was slowly being erased from my systems. Because a fighter is human, Drew, I was more than that now – I'd to be more than that…

There was something inside me and I knew it meant good, but understanding between human and machine wasn't the best. Two different things seeking two different paths. There wasn't room for both Ash and the Suit and Aaron inside this brain of mine. At one point one of us would have to give… pray to Arceus that whatever's left behind is still good, Drew.

"And Lance won't be here to personally pick you – pick me – up, will he?" I asked.

Oak smiled wryly and shook his head. "I imagine Lance will be occupied with the protection detail for the party," he said. "Lots of famous people brought together can be a chance certain groups of people won't pass up."

"You think Team Rocket will try something?" I asked, truly surprised by the thought. "Giovanni won't be _that_ reckless. Isn't he invited, anyway?"

"Yes, he is, but we both know that wouldn't stop him if he thought there was something to be gained from it…"

I frowned, something clicked in the back of my mind. "The Master Ball," I mumbled. "You think he'll try to steal it?"

Thinking on it, it seemed only logical that Giovanni would try something. A Ball that could make any Pokémon yours for the taking sounded like just his thing. It sounded like any power-hungry man's kind of thing.

Giovanni and his merry band of thieves and mercenaries could become a problem for even the toughest G-men; Lance was going to have his hands full with problems unless… unless someone else was there to help him. That slimy, calculating fucker!

"Oh." I blinked and focused on Oak's expression that had gone more and more guilt ridden as the true purpose behind my sudden invitation was revealed. "So that's why you want me to go instead of you? You _want_ me to fight him!"

"Well, it sounded like a good idea, but when you put it like that…" Oak trailed off hesitantly.

"I like it," I said, and I liked the idea, but the way he had tried to manipulate me wasn't really something I appreciated. "That was very sneaky of you, though, using May to sell it and all."

"Sorry, I just have a feeling he'll try something."

"S'okay. Just tell me the truth next time," I said, seeing no reason to make a fuss about it. He didn't make me do something I didn't want to, anyway. Nobody could do that.

"I still think May will be good for you, though. The only time I ever saw you truly happy was when you were with her."

Have you ever seen one of those chick flicks, Drew? I haven't, but I'd imagine that it would go kinda like the first time I met May. Take your typical sad loner, a traveler and battler with a flair for getting into trouble. The class clown that everybody wanted to laugh with, but only dared to laugh at because he came from a poor and unpopular family that would make you look bad if you were caught with. The run-away boy with limited social skills and zero friends.

Then you take the beautiful girl that turned heads wherever she walked, the girl with the haughty exterior that really only worked as a cover for the kind and loyal girl beneath the skin. The girl that grew up in a wealthy family with a popular and famous dad. The girl with anything and everything, and on course straight for the stars.

I remember our first meeting as if it was yesterday. The suit's power upgrade of my mind helped in that regard, but really, what helped the most was that – as Oak said – it was the happiest time of my life. I'd been captivated at first sight, and no it wasn't love at first sight. I was seventeen-nearly-eighteen years old when I first met her; you know how a teenage boy's mind works, right?

It was _desire_ at first sight.

I came into the Pokémon Center of the Hoenn League, tired and in a need of a bath so fucking badly after journeying through the Victory Road of Hoenn. And there she was, standing at the counter with her family. Her father, Norman, a rising star among the Gym Leaders, was there to oversee the Tournament, as it was expected of all the Gym Leaders.

I still have no idea what she saw in me, but the closer I walked to her the more immobilized I felt. She wore a summer dress that showcased a perfect amount of her gorgeous body, leaving only the best part to the imagination. The dress had ended a little above her knees, and every tantalizing skin had made my teenage-self more and more nervous. She had smiled at me. I don't think I'd managed to return it.

She was like a wet dream after all the hell I'd been through.

And she had looked me up and down, her deep blue eyes taking in every particle of dirt and blood and swollen skin on my form. It was like the beauty and the beast turned real.

One week later and she were sneaking into my hotel room every night.

I didn't fall in love with her during that time, or I didn't recognize the signs, at least. I only realized it after I left her in my quest for the past.

I don't think she fell in love with me, either, at least not initially. As I said, she grew up in the _nice_ way – if such a thing exists in this world – and had norms and customs pushed on her from the moment she was born. I was her chance of acting out, being a rebel. I think she slept with me to escape and defy her father and her life, rather than any actual feelings for me.

At some point during our tryst that changed. Her feelings, as well as mine, became more genuine. I won the League trophy as the youngest to ever do so, and thought I could walk on water. I mean, I had everything, the girl, the fame, the money – nothing could stop me.

Then I stumbled upon Team Rocket's lab, and I had to stick my big head into things I couldn't possibly understand, of course.

And then Giovanni's wraith struck upon me, and my world and my self-awareness crumbled around me. Love could never measure up to that kind of hatred, the kind of hatred that's so deep that if you don't do something it will tear you to pieces…

"I'm going to sleep," I said, half a dozen memories spinning through my mind. Some good, most bad. I remembered dark-brown hair, flowing in long, gentle ringlets down a glisten, bare, sun-kissed back. I remembered plump lips, so fucking kissable lips, and I remembered deep, cold blue eyes that held a hidden treasure, an innocence hidden behind a haughty exterior.

I was in love.

Fuck that shit; it's only gonna break you!

"Goodnight, son," Oak said, his dark eyes searching me over his damned glass of scorch. I wanted a drink so feckin' badly. No can do, shrink. As a former alcoholic, relapse wasn't further away than the nearest bottle of something stronger than a light beer.

And that shit tasted like… well, shit even to begin with.

I went to bed.

* * *

The know-how and madness came easily once I put on the suit. I had a plan to make. Lists of mercenaries and thugs came scrolling down the side of my visor as I sifted through the files gathered by Lance's resources. Interesting names and groups of people were filed away for later use in the back of my mind, still had to get used to _that_. In the past, I would have had to write down the names if I wanted to remember them when I woke up.

I was sitting on my bed in the room graciously granted to me by Oak – I really needed to find my own place – and felt both awesome and terrified in my suit. It was funny, I felt like I weighted nothing more than the air I breathed, but when I looked down on my mattress I could see it curve under my ass as if I weighted a ton.

Pure steely muscles, of course, Drew, nothing but the best of the world going through this temple of mine.

Heh…

The clock on my bedside table read 05:28, almost three hours to deploy, and I wasn't feeling the least bit tired or bored with this… task of mine. I had literally pulled an all-nighter, going through lists of people Lance had under suspicion of operating with Team Rocket.

Operating… why not just say working and call it a day, man. Why did I suddenly have this whole new vocabulary at my disposal?

It didn't even sound cool – operating… no, I don't get it.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. I had pulled an all-nighter, going through lists of people with a suspicious nature. It was incredible how much detail and intel Lance had been able to squeeze out of his researchers. I mean, how the fuck did they found out that Archer was a vegetarian because he once had a bad experience with a feisty Ursaring for instance? Or that one Michael Jacobs was a strong believer in the legends of Giratina, the Demon Pokémon, but didn't believe in Arceus or any of the other fabled Gods of Pokémon?

It was an impressive or thoroughly well-done job.

_Tommy Jordan,_ I thought, reading the name and committing it to memory. I would never – and by that I mean fucking never – forget that name again. It was carved in stone upon my mind like all the other bloody nonsense and whispers of the past that flickered through the maelstrom of my bleeding and chaotic mind.

"Tony Phillips," I sighed – oh, how I sighed, man.

I had gotten in under the suit's skin by now – bad pun intended, of course – and had gained some measure of understanding of its powers and limitations. We were _connected_. What I'd first assumed was highly advanced machinery, was slowly proven to be something far more sophisticated and – well, of another world.

What looked to be cords of futuristic tech was actually real _living_ tissue that somehow attached to my body and _Aura_ every time I said that damned codeword, every time I chose to bond with the thing.

There is a word for that kind of thing, Drew. It's called a symbiosis, ever heard of that? I thought – quite like you – that it was something taken straight out of some half-assed Sci-fi thriller. But it's not; it's something far more real and _active_.

It happens almost every day; Pokémon lent their skills and services out to each other for survival if the deal's beneficial for both species. The very nature does it, too, sometimes you see plants grow upon plants – protecting and helping each other.

But that had nothing on what was going on inside me, of course. I wasn't in my own category; I was on an entire different planet. The suit was feasting on my Aura to _operate_ properly, using my awesome and sometimes undomesticated powers as a battery for its… works of magic. It tamed my Aura, though, made it into a very, very potent weapon of mass-destruction that could leave cities waste in my wake, man.

You already know that, of course, you've seen me do it before. I am something akin to a wild and insane Pokémon in that regard, aren't I?

Aura… I had journeyed to the past, trained with possible the most well-read man I'd ever met. I'd learned everything I could, fought through every obstacle put in front of me – however inhuman that obstacle may be – and I didn't feel one step closer to understand, to grasp, just what Aura actually was.

Aura is life, I told you that before. Aura is something a selected few people can tap into at will and use as a weapon – a force for good some people called it in the future's past, I told you that before, too. It transcended Space and Time, it transcended the realms of Dialga and Palkia – and yes, I've come to believe in _some_ of the old legends, because sometimes you just can't ignore what's right in front of you.

But still… it told you nothing about Aura. What was it, where did it come from? _Why me?_ All questions I had no answer to, all question I so fucking badly needed answers to, because I was sinking in this web I weaved.

My watch said 06:06 now and I glanced out of my window, seeing the early morning sun bathing the skyline in a scorched orange glow. I couldn't sleep, didn't need to, really. I liked sleeping, however, and even though it came in handy on this night when I had to work, I had a feeling it would be a pain in the ass when I actually wanted to sleep – for no other reason than wanting to forget the troubles that kept piling up in my life.

I zoomed back my scrolling through the files with nothing but a half thought, Giovanni's ugly hide showing up on the screen.

_Identity: André Giovanni _  
_Gym Leader of the Viridian City Gym_  
_Start of Gym Leader period January 1. 2000_  
_End of Gym Leader period is still unknown_  
_Not much is known about Giovanni's early life. What is known is that he became the youngest – now second youngest – winner of a League Tournament in 1996 and disappeared soon afterwards. He returned almost four years later and applied for the recently opened position as Gym Leader in Viridian. He passed the tests with flying colors and got a commendation for the job. He tries, and with a fair amount of success, to keep his private goings a secret, but I know that he has at least a high position in Team Rocket, most likely the leader of the entire organization…_

The text kept on sprouting chickenshit nonsense, _most likely the leader of the entire organization?_ Who was Lance trying to fool? It could only be himself; he was the only one with complete access to this file – or he used to be.

I felt pretty good beating Giovanni as the youngest winner of a League, though. It was petty, it was entirely unimportant in the grander scheme of things, but it was a victory over the blasted man, and I would take every small one I could get.

At some point they would grow to something bigger, they _had_ to.

I rose from my bed, heading for the bathroom attached to my room. I had never lived so stylishly before, not even at the Hoenn League. As I walked towards the brown door, my mind commanded the suit off me and just like that the thing retreaded its motion, gliding back over my skin until it was nothing more than a pulsating ring – Ring – again on my right index finger, and leaving me nude safe for my boxers.

I needed to get ready for the party; I had people to avoid, surveillance to conduct, fights to conquer, and a girl to impress.

I needed to look my fucking best for the last part.

* * *

I walked out of the store, adjusting my newly acquired dark suit and white shirt, and breathed in the live around me.

Saffron City was a tangle of senses pulsating beneath the concrete ground I was walking on, of aromas hanging heavily in the air from all the shops and peoples and restaurants on the street, and of noises blaring around me; it always has been. People stepped around me, mumbling curse words and threats to the bloody tourist with his head in the clouds.

My head was definitely in the clouds today.

I stared up at the big impossibilities of our nation, looking like a fucking tourist, and admired the view of the skyscrapers. And they most certainly were skyscrapers. Reaching for the very stars, the big constructions of steel and glass decorated the skyline all around me, how we had ever made these things with the threats of a Pokémon invasion I'd never understand – but we had, humanity had conquered.

For now…

I began to move, drawing my eyes back on the road ahead of me, and danced and ducked through the hordes and hordes of mingling people, all going about in their own world, purposeful yet looking without any clear intent beyond simple being a mere part of the crowd.

I wasn't part of the crowd, however, never had been, but always and always for different reasons. I was different than the ordinary John walking on the street, not something tangible or really obvious, but a hidden promise of danger lurked at the edge of my handsome façade. I cut a striking figure, if I do say so myself – and I do – but it wasn't my impressive physique, nor was it my obvious scar running down the side of my neck that made me stand out. It was something far more primitive and dangerous.

I had an _Aura_ of tremendous power about me.

I'm not trying to sound boastful or anything here, Drew; people were avoiding me, making a path for me to walk undisputed in.

So I walked, whistling a merry little tone to myself, and took in the beautiful city around me – it was all just so alive and prosperous compared to what I came from. Pallet Town had become more like Ghost Town, and the forests and mountains surrounding Milando Village had been my personal Hell on Earth.

This was a fresh breath of air, figuratively speaking of course; I felt something akin to peace here among the millions of other peoples, and maybe just a faint touch of destiny in the air between this moment and the one that was to come in a matter of minutes.

The inevitable battle between me and Giovanni was about to begin, the broken pieces of me and May's relationship was – hopefully – about to me repaired. May wasn't really important in the greater picture, but I wanted her around. It was selfish, it was dangerous, and it made me feel so fucking sinful and good inside.

The most awesomely scary thing was that I was unsure what I considered most important, May or Giovanni? The Ring or Suit or Machine or whatever the fuck it is definitely had its priorities straight; I felt like it was scolding me for every thought I had about May – or Serena, and my thoughts about _her_ had been scant and few so far.

She had just not entered the picture yet, but she would, Drew, and she would love and hate me for it, as all people who get to know me these days do.

The sun was retreating now, casting the city in long shadows and – flashing neon signs that showcased different products and new movies just coming out. The trip in the chopper had been long and tedious, far too eventless for so much hubbub – yeah, Drew, I use the word hubbub frequently because it is just that fecking' awesome – and they had ended up dropping me off on top of the Domain Tower (the tallest building in Saffron and second tallest in the world).

The announcement and after-party was gonna be held in that building, on one of the highest floors, yet I'd taken the elevator all the way down to street levels and braved the streets in a desperate search for some suitable clothes for the occasion.

It turned out that I didn't have to go that far, in a city as big as Saffron, the nearest store that sold quickly tailored and expansive suits were not that far away. I got myself measured for an all black suit with matching tie, and while it was being fitted I walked to nearest Kanto Bank, wearing my shiny new black shoes, and reopened my account to acquire the money needed for the rest of my suit.

Easy and fast – live and learn, man, I was relearning old tricks of the trade and all that…

I'd reach Domain Tower in a couple of blocks; I could see the skyscraper upon the slowly darkening sky in front of me, the building towering up over all of its surrounding constructions. The tower itself was tipped with a small landing platform – the place where I landed with my escort of G-men this fine morning – and a white, almost transparent, globe that could split open to reveal heavy loaded cannons.

Those cannons, along with others strategically placed all over the city, was part of a security network that consisted of scanning frequencies and radio protocols meant to track down and eliminate threats to the city. If something dangerous or big enough to gain attention were heading too close or into the city they'd be gunned down before they even made it halfway unless they had an invitation into the city – or a radio to communicate with the Watch-Tower of Saffron.

They called it a search, lock, load, and fire procedure – quick and efficient work that was left to a machine. They installed those defense measures a couple of years before I became a Pokémon trainer, and ever since then, Saffron has been spared of any devastating attacks.

The city had flourished after that, and, as a result of the grown it had gone through, other big and wealthy cities started to copy the defense structure.

But why am I telling you this you might wonder. You probably already know all of it. Well, it's gonna matter to my story at some point in the not-so-distant future, you'll see, Drew. Patience is a virtue.

But one thing's for sure, it worked.

And that was the reason I took care not to fly over any mayor cities with Charizard on my way back from the Tree, it was also the reason why I hadn't flown myself in town today – couldn't risk getting burned to crisp, could I?

I could see the entrance to the Domain Tower now, and barely make out the lobby tucked behind security guards, wearing sunglasses and their best outfit for the day and guarding the festivities, and made sure that the mob could not penetrate the party.

And what a mob of people and uninvited journalist it was, swarming the building, kicking and screaming and flashing the blitz on their cameras. It was a big thing whenever Silph Co. decided to announce a new brand in their collection of Poké Balls, and, even though it was only rumors by now, a Master Ball was considered such a groundbreaking piece of technology that reporters, League officials, and common people were coming from all over the world to witness the historic event.

Saffron was on the brink of bursting, the streets filled to the brim with people; there was a special buzz in the air, a hidden promise of mystery and secrets about to be revealed. You felt it with your bones and joints rather than seeing anything tangible – it probably wasn't even real, just a fragment of my imagination running high.

Such was my mind's eye now, evolved yet torn fucking asunder by the Past.

I frowned darkly, not feeling like myself at all and with a certain sense that I was missing something vital, and pushed my way through the screaming and _pushing_ crowd around me. Was I crazy for wanting to blast my way through with Spheres of Aura? Was I childish for wanting to hide from the party – and the girl I dreamed about every time the Ring was silent?

No, I wasn't crazy or childish, Drew, but I was human for it, and that was both a comforting and horrible thought.

The lights turned green and I followed the crowd over the street, trying to break off and go in through the arching cemetery that worked as an entrance path. Made in well worked and shiny white marble, the structure looked both impressive an as out of place as I felt among all the big and simple steel buildings.

But even though I felt completely out of my depth, I must admit I felt kinda cool and awesome walking on the red carpet like all the other fakes celebrities and old, worn war heroes that Kanto glorified more than most of them deserved.

And those that did deserve the recognition never got enough – it is a cruel and indecent world we live in, man.

But it's the only one we got, Drew. Who knows, maybe one day we'll actually start helping each other again.

I stopped when one of the security guards stepped up to me, sunglasses and deep frown firmly in place, holding his hand out to me. "Passport, please, sir," he said, almost bored – I suppose I would feel similarly if I had to spent an entire evening, guarding and protecting a bunch of snobs. I'd probably kill one of them by the end of the evening. Just kidding, Drew.

And I'm sure they enjoyed the money afterwards.

I handed him my papers. "And hello to you," I said. "Hey, why the sunglasses?"

He ignored me, sifting through my papers with a keen and practiced eye, before handing it back to me with a grunt of grudgingly approval.

I was inside.

May and Giovanni was waiting – still not sure what scared me the most.

* * *

_Yes, I know I'm stalling the conversation in half truths and useless facts, dull and meaningless, just a conversation between two unimportant strangers. But we're not just strangers anymore, are we, Drew? We're not just faceless persons in the crowd, going about our carefully planned and completely dreary day. I use these seemingly unimportant and dry sequences to build up the next course of action, an explanation, of sorts, of what is going to happen next. What is a good story without background info, right? _

_I'm not just a faceless and unimportant person in the crowd, though, I'm more than that, and I've said that before, does it make me sound like a narcissist? I dearly hope it doesn't. I was a beacon of terrible darkness in the crowd, people stayed clear of my path, shop keepers kept a wary eye on me when I came to buy my clothes. _

_Nobody knew what it was, they just knew that I was strange, different… they didn't know what it was, yet they knew all the same, if that makes any sense. No, it probably doesn't. Most things about my life don't…_

_But I was beginning to wonder about the strangeness of my life at that point, beginning to weave a web, a map, of the past thrust upon the present. I'd touched something better left forgotten – why they hadn't just destroyed it I'll never understand._

_Yet I think I know why. They, like people today, were afraid of the future. Be it Gods, humans, Pokémon or something else, was afraid of the future as any other powerful sentient being is. I've memories of past wars now, and not just the vastly glossed over details of the gruesomeness of the Dark Wars you find in the history books these days. No, real experiences, real live, and every gritty little ol' act of senseless violence is bleeding through the space and cords of the suit and my brain like a beat of electricity on repeat. _

_Memories that could define mankind a millennium ago is now defining me, memories that belonged to something so twisted and grotesque, so wild and untamed, I find it hard to describe it with mere words is now defining me at my core being. _

_Have you ever heard the saying: There's a God inside all of us? It originates from Sinnoh, of course, and is used as a holy mantra for people during the time they pray. It's derived from the old legends of Arceus and its creations. Lies, legends, and the make-believe, nothing more nothing less._

_The saying was stuffed down my throat wherever I walked when I visited Sinnoh during my search for Aura, but I never believed or took any greater notice of it, always and forever brushing of what is fucking right in front of me. _

_Live and learn, Drew… live and learn._

_And hope that whatever you're up against is slower on the uptake than you are – because if it isn't, you might as well just be a fucked up mess of nothingness when it is done with you._

_But the saying, man, the saying holds, like all words of prophetic implications, a hidden promise of hard truths and sweet, but oh so cold lies. I felt like I had gotten it thrust upon me by the Gods of Old, with all the power and memory that entails. My shell was still human; my identity was still an imitation of my ol' self. But beneath this cold, grey layer of awesomeness is not just a bleeding human heart, but also the sheer, raw, and fucked up knowledge of a God who knows that humanity is as fickle a thing as a snowflake. _

_Prick me with a needle and watch it bend, bitch!_

_But not everything was bad. I noticed the looks of barely undisguised fear, I noticed the confused weariness of the people around me, but I blocked it all out, pretending that it wasn't me something was wrong with. _

_For a time I just enjoyed myself, all alone in the city. That might sound a little lonely to you, but to me it was like being reborn. I was surrounded by _living_ and _breathing_ people – not always two things that stick together, Drew – and was, in a way, just a part of the crowd mingling about in a city where the lights never turned off._

_I didn't have my Pikachu with me because Pokémon weren't allowed at the party, another useless fact that will help build up for the part to come, and yet I felt both less lonely and more purposeful than I had in goddamn years. _

_And apprehension and fear wasn't the only looks I was attracting. I was, like all the knights in shiny armor, a handsome guy when the circumstances allowed me to be. I'd always found it difficult reading a woman, what she meant or what she wanted – May and Serena both called me dense once upon a time – but even I could understand the looks women gave me as I walked on the street._

_As I said, I'm by no means an expert, but women like a mystery, Drew. Some women like power, too, but those are the ones you should stay clear off, I think. I cut a powerful figure, and with a touch of mystery and a sense of danger._

_I was hot and on fire, man. _

_But I wasn't interested in those girls, or I mean, I was, I'm a red-blooded male, after all, but it would be meaningless fun. Those girls wouldn't compare to the real deal, and on that day the real deal was May, and only May – and maybe Serena._

_May and Serena…_

_Sorry, I'm dreaming aloud again, aren't I? It's just great curves, creamy skin, and a face of the angel, May. And it's lithe form, yet perfect curves where it matters, a little darker skin, and a face of another angel, really, Serena. But it's also weakness, my weakness, and it's liability in the line of duty because while they can be fierce and strong in their own right, they're no fighters. _

_May even has a pretty strong phobia for Pokémon, which is kind of a bad thing, considering those are fucking everywhere these days._

_It's funny that I can't seem to stop talking about them, huh. Does it make me sound like an angsty girlyman in too deep love to be considered a badass?_

_It's just difficult not talking about May; I was just about to meet her…_

* * *

"Isn't that…?" A female journalist said, looking like she'd just seen the Ghost of Hoenn. I'm back from the dead, baby.

"Look, right there. Isn't that the guy that won the Hoenn League a few years back? Ash… something, right?" Hey, wasn't that Norman's son, Max… Hutton it must be, then, May's younger brother – he always was a judgmental douchebag. Not yet a motherfucker, at least that's something, I suppose.

"That's fucking Ash Ketchum, dude! The youngest trainer to ever win a Pokémon League, and the only one to go through an entire tournament without killing any of his opponent's Pokémon." And that was just a crazed fan, apparently working himself up in frenzied state of overdosed awesomeness.

Yeah… do the Gods that are hear my fucking prayers? Arceus and the Holy Spirit of Aura – please, save me from this Hell on Earth!

God, I hated these things, I had known it was going to happen like this. The proverbial son had returned to the masses, an object of envy and admiration in the otherwise dull and monotonous day. Expect, I didn't really hate this, not as much as I thought I would, the sideway glances and whispered words of awe of my presence were oddly welcoming.

I felt detached to it all – I was _detached_.

And again, I felt like there was something I'd missed – something really fucking important.

I got a hit.

I got a fucking hit.

But how the hell was I suppose to get a fucking hit when I wasn't even – when the powers that be and the powers of Old were resting, _quiescent_.

Ah, quiescent. Good ol' fashioned word that one.

Have I told you about my expanding vocabulary, Drew? Yes, yes, I did. Oh. Fuck.

Never mind, I got a hit, the suit beeped inside my brains, memories and information bleeding into my conscious like a raw mind rape.

"_Tommy Jordan… Remember him, Aura Guardian_?" A silky smooth and decidedly unfriendly voice whispered through my mind. My head peaked up, almost cracked my neck in my shock, and I scanned the masses with my eyes and Aura, darting between men and women like sonar. I only found non-threatening personal in my immediate surroundings.

"What the hell," I said out loud, my whispered words making the woman beside me look at me with confusion.

"Did you say something, dear?"

_Dear_? I must have gone crazy – _dear?_ – nobody had called me something as sweet and honest as _dear_ in my whole life. I was too hardened for that kind of crab, my survival instincts too fine-tuned to take any of that silly and superficial nonsense seriously.

"No, sorry – just confused ramblings, ma'am." I shook my head, clearing it of creepy, imagined voices.

The elegant old lady shook her head, a thin curtain of silver hair hiding the enigmatic smile on her lips. "You're far too young and virile for that, my dear," she said, her nature entirely benign. I studied her a little closer, of course, always and forever a suspicious bastard. "What's your name?"

I relaxed my eyes a little, all part of the mask, man, and looked for an easy smile and found it, looking around the crowd the old woman and I had gathered. "Nobody in the crowd told you?"

"Merely being polite, something most people seems to have forgotten these days." She sighed, casting a wary eye around the people that tried to listen in on our conversation. "Oh well, what brings you to this… find establishment, Ash Ketchum?"

"An old friend, actually," I said. "A friend we have in common, I believe… Agatha."

Agatha, member of the Elite Four, smiled ruefully. "Ah, professor Oak, then. Brilliant old man. He's not here? I would have thought he'd want to see this, if the rumors of an infallible Poké Ball holds true, of course."

"He couldn't be here." I shrugged. "So he sent me in his stead."

The fragile lady flattened her dark robes. "Well, you send him my best, dear. Far too few good and honest men like Samuel Oak in this world." She turned her small body far more effective and graceful than I thought possible for such an old woman, and quickly disappeared in the crowd of people.

This time I definitely missed something.

Agatha was a perfect example of the age old saying, _looks can be deceiving._ She may look like your typical old, benign grandmother, but in reality she was anything but. Underneath that fragile shell was a power of darkness – not unlike me – that could literally turn your dreams into nerve-wracking and blood-freezing nightmares.

She had, however – completely unlike me – seen her best days. Her powers were dwindling, a shadow of their former glory. She was a woman who should have quitted this game while she was ahead, should have known when to quit the roll of the dice. But like all great and powerful humans, she had difficulty letting go of the past.

She was still part of the Elite Four in Kanto, but she was without a doubt the weakest link in that bunch of pathetic cowards, yet she'll always have my sympathies – she was the only one that took my side back when I accused Giovanni of murder. She was only one with real balls, man.

I moved on from my spot, braving the dangers of blood-hungry journalist and suicidal fans. Questions were flung at me from all sides, and I wondered what the fuck I was doing here.

Oh yeah, that's right, I was here to protect these imbeciles from Giovanni and his merry band of mercenaries and hired grunts and guns. Well, if there didn't happen something soon there wouldn't be anything left to protect.

But there he was again, Tommy Jordan. My Ring and Aura was sensing him as he followed me through the hordes of chatting people, shadowing me. The profile of the man the database had provided me with bled through my mind, both useful and useless facts about him, and I realized that Giovanni must have, somehow, gotten news of my presence.

That was kinda _fuckin'_ bad.

How the actual fuck had he found out so quickly?

I looked around, seeing not-so-subtle glances thrown my way, hearing barely-disguised-whispers of the great and powerful Ash Ketchum.

Okay, it was pretty clear _how_ he found out, after all.

It would only be a matter of seconds before May got to me, and that sent hot tingles down my spine and all kinds of good and nervous feels into my systems.

Dinner should begin in a matter of minutes, men and women carried their chatters into the dinning lounge of the eighty-seventh floor. I followed the stream of people, and entered the Restaurant room. Round tables, covered by simple and elegant white tablecloths, were placed all around the room; I could see nameplates on the plates. One of the walls was made only of windows, and a balcony, with a view out over the city, was visible from where I stood.

I walked over the beautiful wooden floor, finding my name easily – guess how, Drew – and spent a moment admiring the platform that had been placed there for the occasion. I didn't doubt for a moment that it was there the announcement was to be held.

I reached my table, it was empty, and sat down. My eyes darted to and fro, looking for persons of interest. I found most of them – and can you talk about enemies and friends seizing you up on all sides, man.

Not two tables in front of me sat the Devil himself, wearing a perfect tailored black suit and red tie, with people already kissing his ass it seemed. Giovanni was as sleek and cool as he always had been, mesmerizing people with his charismatic personality and winning attitude. He blended in perfectly with the setting, the cold, sociopathic murder nowhere to be seen.

It was a façade – a façade he pulled off far better than I ever could.

I was slouching in my seat, looking and feeling so utterly bored people would have thought I had been forced to be here. I suppose I had been in a way.

I removed my focus from Giovanni, seeing known and unknown members of his Team Rocket all around him, including Archer, the fucker, keeping watch of their leader. But as I said, there were friends in the crowd, too, or friends and would-be-friends, at least.

Lance sat at the front of the room, together with all the other Gym Leaders and Elite Four members, and talked quietly with Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader. Brock leaned in close to Lance, whispering something that seemed to stab him in the chest, because suddenly his head snapped around and he looked directly at me, eyes filled with obvious shock and jaw dropped.

I put on my most shit-eating grin and waved to the bastard, feeling insanely awesome and important all of a sudden. He didn't respond to my waving, he turned in his seat, giving me the _cold shoulder_.

Ah, he definitely hadn't forgotten about me, then. That was a nice sentiment, one I could be a little proud of.

"Ah, there's my seat," a voice said beside me, making me jump a little. I turned my eyes on the new arrival; he was an elderly man, white complexion and balding grey hair and green eyes, wearing an outrageous suit in a dull grey color with black dots on his jacket. He had a friendly face, which seemed as fake as my own. "Hello, my good fellow. The name's Jacob, Jacob Smith." The man, Jacob, extended his hand towards me.

I took it, still a little dazed and confused that I hadn't felt the man coming, and said, "Hello, Mr. Smith. My name's Ash Ketchum." _And I'm a former alcoholic and Pokémon trainer, and now mad and insane voices of Old and memories not my own is screaming through my fucked up mind._ Isn't that how this generation works these days? Where we share personal information with complete strangers, whether it is over the internet or in person, to make our lives more exciting, hmm?

I heard about a boy who wrote he was going on vacation with his family on the World-Wide-Web, Drew. Do you know what happened while they were gone? They got robbed, man, of course they did.

We are a bunch of attention-seeking idiots…

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, and please, call me Jacob," he said jovially. "Mr. Smith is my father."

I tried to hide my frown; Mr. Smith – _Jacob_ – was the talkative sort, which was not the kind of person I wanted to sit with right now, not ever, actually. "_Jacob_. So… why are you here?" The name seemed familiar now that I thought about it. Even though the Ring didn't establish connection to my brain, as it had proven capable of when it scanned Tommy Jordan, I still felt my mind sifting through old and long forgotten memories.

There weren't _that_ old anymore, though, and they certainly weren't forgotten.

And, of course, I remembered him. Jacob Smith was a hotshot in the news business, the editor for _Expedition_ – and May's boss. Of all the men to sit at my table it had to be May's boss…

Did that mean May would sit at my table, too? I looked up, seeking that gorgeous body and allure that I had been without for so long…

Of course she wasn't to sit at my table. That would have been far too convenient, man, taking straight out of some half-assed romantic comedy that all women, for some strange and unfathomable reason, lap in them like it was real life.

She wasn't gonna sit at my table, but that didn't matter for now – because there she was, striding into the restaurant. God, she could fuel my inner teenager's wet dreams for months to come, man. Let me take it from the bottom and all the way to the top, Drew. Paint you the Picture Perfect.

She had grown. That was the first thing that went through my mind, the first thing I noticed. I mean, May've always had great curves and beauty, at least while I've known her. But she had become a woman while I was gone. The lithe teenage girl replaced by the voluptuous forms of a woman in her early twenties.

She wore a red dress, almost as red as blood, that hugged her curvaceous form flawlessly. The dress reached halfway down her thigh, bare legs that seemed to never end was revealed for my gaze. I took my time studying her, sure that she wouldn't catch me ogling her, and drew my eyes slowly back up to the swell of her ample cleavage. Her skin was creamy pale – not as pale as I remembered, though – and seemed to light up the very room around her, only dulled a little by the brown hair falling in perfect ringlets around her shoulders.

Her beautiful, almost unnatural, deep blue eyes were staring right at me, though, probably catching me _feasting_ on her form like a drowning man seeking fresh air.

I blinked, and tried to control a rising blush on my cheeks – ah, fuck! I had been caught with the hand in the cookie jar. A jumble of emotions flashed over her face, surprise, happiness, that then very slowly turned to righteous anger, before coming to some sort of sad acceptance – maybe even a little delight mixed in. You could see she was trying to hide her emotions, trying to look strong and unaffected by my presence.

Oak told me she'd confessed that she thought I had died while I'd been gone – shock wouldn't be an adequate description for what must have gone through her mind.

She spent maybe thirty seconds, just standing there, staring at me from across the room. I stared back at her, man enough to not back down, and fought hard to keep my eyes locked with her eyes, not letting them fall back to the hidden promises of untold pleasures.

Pleasures I'd experience before – pleasures I so desperately wanted to experience again.

"huh…?" Jacob uttered quietly beside me, looking between me and May. "I sense a story here."

"Only the end of the world," I whispered lowly, feeling like I was missing something important here. Again.

"Excuse me?"

"Only the end of an unlikely relationship," I said, shaking my head and taking my eyes of May, as she walked over to her table, sitting together with a dozen of other journalists at a table of to the side. "Why aren't you sitting with the other journalists, Jacob?"

"And miss the scoop of the year? The resurrection of Ash Ketchum! Not bloody likely, pal." He gestured with his hand over to May's table. "I changed seats with the charming Jennifer over there – the girl in blue."

I followed his hand and saw the _woman_ he was indicating to. It'd been a long time since she was considered a girl, Drew, let me tell you that. Dressed, as Jacob said, in a modest blue dress, the middle-aged, slightly chubby woman was talking animatedly with May, who only seemed to pay her half-attention.

I didn't hide my frown this time. "I'm not doing an interview with you," I said, trying to put as much firm malice into my voice – without actually coming off as a deranged killer, of course.

Not sure I succeed the last part, though, because he leaned away from me as if I'd hit him across the face.

He didn't talk to me for the rest of the night – and barely an hour into the dinner he disappeared to places unknown, never to be seen again.

The next morning, there'd be a story about the rude, arrogant Ash Ketchum – but not on front page, though, that spot was taken by some dude named Red…

* * *

_Prove it._

_PROVE IT, YOU_ SONOFABITCH_!_

_I'd never, and take my words very, very serious, never been the forgiving type. _

_You can't prove it, and that's why you fuckers still have no clue about the shitstorm you're blindly feeling your way through, that's why none of you is going to make a goddamn difference in this mess of ours, and that's why we're all _drowning_ in the decayed, contaminated wreckage of our damnation. _

_We made our own mess, Drew, and you know what?_

_I'm getting tired of having to pick up the pieces after some sociopathic asshole went berserk with powers he couldn't possibly control. _

_I'm just so fucking tired, man. And the sad part is, I'm barely even holding on to the fight. Monsters and Legends beset me on all sides, pushing me to the brink of insanity… and I'm afraid. I'm afraid because I'm not afraid anymore – their awesome powers have become nothing but an afterthought to me. _

_I'm afraid because I should be so goddamn terrified, but I'm not, haven't been since I put on that fucking abomination of a suit. _

_Pay attention and you'll understand. We're almost there, every coarse action of necessary evil is on the burning horizon – I've lain waste to mortality, man, entered the realms of Gods and taking a dump on their territory. _

_I've used ancient forces in my war against damned species, gained mythical powers in my quest for the key to our salvation. Aura, Drew, I found Aura. _

_Who the fuck named it Aura, anyway? It sounds so fucking stupid! But sadly, here I am, using the word of the power that has changed the world, will change the world, does change the world, and I'm gonna see it through. _

_Aura._

_Aura…_

_Aura!_

_I don't laugh at a misery, just what the hell makes me so special? _

_Aura is not something I can just tap into a will; it's not a vortex of power hidden within the deepest parts of my being and soul. I'm not running on a battery that is slowly drained every time I use my power, and then recharges when I sleep or something. You can't compare it to a muscle, because it's not that simple. And it's not that complex, either._

_Ah, man, Aura is… life. And death. Live and Death. There isn't Aura in anything, nobody has Aura – it doesn't exist! Yet it's all that matters, it's in the air you exhale when the final gasp leaves you before your mortal soul is send to its Eternal Suffering, it's the defining factor in the moment between a couple in the throes of passion as they make hot, crazy love._

_Aura is not a force for good – I was never meant to be a force for good. Aura consumes every good intention you've ever had. Power turns a good and honest man into the sociopaths he spent his entire life fighting. We are shadows of our former selves, Sir Aaron and me, dark, terrible shadows of once good and honest intentions gone horrible wrong._

_Aura is not real, and therefore it is the only thing that matters. _

_Do you understand, Drew? _

_Do any of you dickheads behind the mirror understand?_

_No? No… don't be sorry about it, I don't get it, either. _

_Aura is my weapon, I wield it like magic and sword in the fight against enemies turned mad, but, after the war is over, with all said and done and me as the victor, what is gonna save me, then? _

_That is what I want you to prove, Drew. _

_Prove it._

_Prove that humanity __can _unite as massive force against a man who has, so far, played an entire Region as if it were just a game to him.

_I don't believe it until I see it. Seeing is believing. But you do, you believe, and that gives me courage for the times and wars to come._

_I still can't stand the sight of you, though. Don't think I'll warm up to you – and that freakish, green hair of yours._

_Is it dyed?_

_No way…_

* * *

"It's not nearly as glamorous as it sounds," I said, a pleasant and false smile marring my face. "Most of the time, you're camping in the most terrible conditions imaginable – never enough food, never a quiet moment of rest."

"So why did you do it, then?"

The scent of delicious food wafted strongly upon the air in the room, the steak – my fourth of the night – tasty and useless to me. Nothing but a guilty pleasure of mine, really. The young woman, Patricia, beside me was a few years older than me, and was _very_ easy on the eye in her elegant white dress, showing off her mocha colored skin, a hint of her petite cleavage peeking out and legs wrapped in sheer white stockings beneath our table.

She'd recognized me as Ash Ketchum, of course, and had joined my table when the dinner was over. I was the only one still eating, actually. I know that's terrible manners, Drew, but I couldn't help myself. I hadn't eaten in days!

"Are you kidding? And miss all the thrill and adventure?" The restaurant was filled with low and friendly chatter, an ambiance of excitement slowly building among the guest. It wouldn't be long before the announcement was to begin, and then I'd see if I really had any reason to be worried.

A Master Ball would be a great cause for concern.

"Was that the only reason?" Patricia asked, leaning into my space, as I pierced my fork through a piece of my steak and brought it to my lips. "Becoming a Pokémon trainer is a big decision – I certainly didn't have the courage to do it back when I graduated."

It hadn't been that grand, tough decision for me, as everybody kept saying it was – for me it had been either that or willowing away in hate and self-pity. The choice between making something of myself or live a life with broken dreams and regrets.

The choice was made for me, really.

I swallowed my food and reached for my glass of Coca-Cola. "Guess I just wanted the money enough."

Patricia giggled at my joke, clear and feminine. I hadn't heard that sound in years – it sounded like those goddamn choirs of angels again. Just as fucking fake as the imaginary creatures of Heaven. "Oh, Ash, it looked like a lot more than money-hunger when I saw you in the arena. You had a passion for the game. But the money didn't hurt, I'm sure."

No, the money hadn't hurt. The money was the reason I could sit here tonight, looking like the suave bastard chatting up the nearest blond – eh, brunette – in my expensive suit and shiny shoes. Except, I wasn't really trying, my head wasn't in it, and my eyes kept flicking back to where I knew the real conquest of night was – if I was to conquer any tonight, of course.

Maybe conquest wasn't really the best way to describe May Hutton… she wouldn't take it well, and she deserved more than that.

My eyes flicked to May's seat again, nothing more than a subtle glance in her general direction, but she wasn't in her seat. She was up and walking towards me, and suddenly my palms felt oddly clammy. Her eyes were locked on mine with an unreadable yet determined expression.

_Fuck, she's hot_, I couldn't help thinking. _And angry…_

She hid it well, but I knew her good enough to see through the icy mask she wore, after all. I could see the slightly narrowed eyes, the cute little line between her eyes when she frowned – something hadn't changed, at least.

I turned my eyes back to my dinner, only to find Patricia half in my lap, and talking vigorously about my performance in the Hoenn League.

That could become a problem.

Pushing gently at her, I pierced another chunk of my meat and drew it up to my mouth, trying to look as cool and unaffected by the stress as possible. I could sense May dance through the tables, getting closer and closer to me. She had a plate with her; I wasn't the only one still eating, after all.

That was another thing I liked about May, she didn't starve herself to look good and healthy. If she wanted to eat something, she would – with _relish_.

Patricia kept talking, not sensing my growing dread at all. "And your Pikachu was the cutest-"

May dumped herself down at our table, her hair trailing behind her in that way I'd never understand how she could pull off. "Hello Ash. Back from the dead, hmm?" she placed her plate in front of her, crossing those wonderful, pale legs of hers, giving me a second to glimpse at her shapely thighs before they disappeared under the table. "Guess you forgot to tell me, huh?"

It didn't escape my notice that she acted as if we didn't have another person at the table – she hadn't so much as glimpsed at Olivia… Patricia! She hadn't even spared _Patricia _a second. Eidetic memory, my ass, man. "Eh… Hey May." _That's nice, Ketchum. Real smooth, man._ "I've only been back for a couple of days. Been a rough couple of days, too," I said, playing the sympathy card. And it was even the truth – I'd been invaded by a being over a millennium old, and my body had been swallowed in some kind of muscles suit that kept whispering sweet words of Doomsday into my brain.

A couple of really fucking rough days.

"Yeah, well, it's been a rough couple of years for me." May crossed her arms under her breasts, I fought with all of my willpower to avoid looking down on the things it did to her curves. I could become lost in those curves, _had_ been lost in them once upon a time… "And why are you still here?" she snapped at Patricia, making the poor girl jump in her seat.

Patricia blinked, looking between me and May for a moment. Then she sought my eyes, and I knew that she waited for me to back her up. I sighed and shook my head, making a small effort to hold her eyes.

She huffed and left, not saying a word to either of us. Maybe she sensed something going on. Were we that obvious?

Heh… that's a trick question, Drew.

I waited for her to leave before rounding on May. "You didn't have to take it out on her, you know. Fair enough if you're pissed with me, but you don't have snap at her for talking with me," I said.

May's temper looked ready to explode – she'd almost as big a temper as me. "Talking? Is that what you call it? She was five seconds away from sticking her tongue down your throat."

I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't gotten around talking to you, but I didn't even know you were here in Kanto until yesterday. What _are _you doing here anyway?" I already knew she worked for the _Expedition_, of course, but the seemingly honest question would hopefully make her think I really hadn't known she'd be here.

She blinked. "I work for the Expedition," she said, her eyes softening when she arrived to the only conclusion she could. I could be a manipulative bastard sometimes. "I live here in Saffron now."

"Oh," I mumbled, keeping a surprised façade. Maybe I really had gotten good at this lying thing while being away. I certainly couldn't have pulled this off before I left. "Well, congrats – you always talked about becoming a journalist."

"Yeah, it's great, though the politics can be a pain in the ass." May relaxed in her seat, sipping at her glass of champagne. God, what I wouldn't give for a glass of… "Every news article has to go via the Pokémon League for approval before it can be published these days. Some of my older colleagues keep saying it was all a lot easy before Lance became Champion."

I didn't want to talk about Lance. "I think I saw your brother when I arrived."

May nodded, as I took another bite of my food. "Him and dad should be here somewhere – my mom couldn't be here, though, you know how she feels about sailing and flying and-"

"-And driving and any other form of transportation that doesn't involve a bike, I remember." I nodded with a half smile. I didn't even need my new and improved super-memory to recall that.

I felt a little proud of that.

May smiled, too, eyes holding a glimmer of reminiscence – and sadness. "You were gone a long time. Where did you go? What did you do?"

There were all good questions. I'd prepared some answers and stories for just this occasion last night, but my perfect memory seemed to have run its course because I was drawing up blank. What should I tell her? Everything? Maybe, but tonight was not the right time or place for that kind of confessions.

I went for a half true. "I went to Hoenn and Sinnoh," That was true. "I… I didn't really do anything, just traveled aimlessly across the Regions – sometimes, whenever I saw the signs, I looked for _him_ and his… gang. But most of the time, I passed with just getting by." That was only half-true. I had done that and so much more.

The look May gave me said, as clearly as the sun, that she didn't believe me. "I thought you were dead, Ash. All these years, I've spent praying that you'd be safe, that you'd return some day. An explanation, you owe me that, at least."

How was it that she could always see right through me like an open book, no matter what I said or tried to cover up? But she was right; however, I owed her the truth and so much more. We had been young and in love, and I ran away to extract revenge. She deserved the truth – more than anyone else. "You're right," I said. "You're right, but not here. I'll tell you everything you want to know, just not today."

The party around me was all but forgotten, as May and I locked eyes. I thought I saw some of that old purpose behind the beauty I'd come to love her for. "You promise?" she said, her voice becoming low and _husky_, as she leaned in closer to me. I could smell her perfume, not quite place the scent, but it made me feel dizzy all the same.

I gulped, feeling both shamefully aroused and more-than-a-little excited. She was playing now, playing me with her beauty. Had it really only been few moments ago I thought I'd have to fight with her. "I promise."

May jumped in her seat, her eyes wide and looking over my left shoulder. A moment later I felt someone brush by me and sit down at our table to my left. I blinked, wondering if my senses were taking a break today since I didn't notice this person approach me either.

Then I noticed _who_ the woman was. Sitting almost as close to me as May did on my right side, was Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City Gym, wearing a purple dress that left little to the imagination. How she could even pull it off without looking like a hooker was beyond me, but my arousal suddenly took another peak, as I got an eyeful of her pale cleavage.

I gulped again, definitely feeling sweaty now, and met Sabrina's purple-blue eyes.

"Hello Ash Ketchum. Agatha said you were here. You weren't supposed to be here," she said, breaking all kinds of personal space and making me confused if this was a dream or a nightmare come true. "You've grown since we last met. You're an adult now!"

"Ah, yeah." I leaned back in my seat, trying to get a couple of inches between me and the two ladies. "Hello Sabrina. I wasn't supposed to be here? Sorry to disappoint, then."

Sabrina shook her gorgeous head. "On the contrary, it's very good, very good indeed." She tilted her head to the side, looking at me as if she was about to penetrate my skull. It wouldn't surprise me if she could. "Why can't I read your mind, Ash Ketchum?"

Heh. _That would be the million dollar question, baby._ "I dunno. Maybe you've drunk too much," I suggested.

"No, I can read the girls mind, she wants me to leave – thinks I look like a slut."

May, bless her, blushed in embarrassment – and anger. "Get out of my head," she said, almost snarled, with a fierce frown. That cute, little line appeared between her eyes again.

I laughed, Sabrina had always been like that from what I could understand, and really with powers such as hers it was a wonder that she wasn't stranger.

Sabrina ignored May, focusing her attention entirely at me. "I really only came to say that we'll begin the broadcast in a couple of minutes," she said, an enigmatic smile on her plump, blood-red lips. "And ask if you'd want to have sex with me afterwards, seeing as you're now legally of age," she added, looking as if she hadn't asked anything out of the ordinary.

I felt something wet splash into the side of my cheek and only realized a couple of seconds later that it was May who had sputtered the champagne she'd been drinking into my face.

_Only Sabrina…_

May looked aghast, at her own actions or what she'd just heard, I didn't know. "Sorry, Ash," she mumbled, eyes wide and jaw dropped. "What… what did you say?"

Sabrina stood up, not before leaning in over me to give me a final teasing glimpse down her cleavage, and looked completely unfazed by the situation. "I'll see to you after the show, then. And goodnight to you," she added to May.

She left for the stage, leaving me confused – and a little hot and bothered – and May gobsmacked.

_Still not sure if I'm in Hell or Heaven_, I thought, dazed and barely aware of anything. I turned to May. "Well…" I trailed off, not sure what to say to _that_.

"Well, that was interesting." She shook her head, flicking a single tuft of curly, brown hair behind her ear. She giggled, clear and delighted, but with a tinge of the unconscious insecurity that she'd always had. "She's crazy, though."

I laughed, choosing to keep quiet as the lights on the platform turned on.

"C'mon," May urged me, standing up from her seat. "Let's get up there before all the good spots are taken by the – what's wrong?"

I, frowning quiet heavily, looked around the room. There it was again – that nagging feeling that I was missing something important, expect this time it was right under my nose, obvious like a smelly piece of cheese.

Fuck.

My head turned off its own accord, a raw and _untamed_ source of energy lighting up the room, almost blinding my thin-skinned senses. What I saw scared me so much even the Ring and its powers of Old couldn't dull it. I saw the power of darkness never-ending and the sheer belief to back it up.

To my right, by the balcony, stood a behemoth, a creature not supposed to be here, with eyes laughing sheer, _uncontrollable_ insanity. I was the only one that had seen the Pokémon, only one with the higher awareness to make the _connection_.

And the only one that had been exposed to all this before, I was the only one who knew what was coming. Yet I'm just as fucked as the rest of you, just as lost in the fight for my own soul. Don't you see it, man? Can't you see the beauty in the madness and chaos of Pokémon unleashed upon a godforsaken world?

May had seen it now, gasping in obvious despair as she took a step behind me. "No…" she whispered, voice almost broken. Phobia, remember? "A Slaking…"

Yeah, a Slaking, the Slaking, man, and it looked far too calculating to be a monster of barely any mentionable intelligence. I'd definitely seen this before. It was an upgraded Slaking, and downgraded, too, really. It wasn't in control of its own actions anymore, just along for the ride like I'd been when I broke into the League and set the warehouse on fire.

Maybe, somewhere inside that pathetic mind, it knew that something was controlling it, but – like me – couldn't break free from its clutches.

I dearly hope not – for its sake, because it was about to fight me.

Its eyes were locked on me, though, and I had a feeling it was seizing me up.

And then it moved, just as all the other guests and Gym Leaders were becoming aware of its presence, _running_ directly towards me and May. I thought for a second that the whole goddamn floor was gonna burst under it, everything just shook and rattled with its every step.

May screamed and stumbled behind me. Security people and League officials were running towards Lance and his colleagues, trying to save them from the other Pokémon that had started pouring in from the balcony – all monkey Pokémon that could make the climb up the side of the skyscraper.

I sighed, my mind taking in all the other persons that was left to fend for themselves – all the lesser people not worth saving. That's another fun fact, Drew. Whenever in moment of crisis, it's always the rich and powerful that get's saved first. And _only_ when they're brought to safety do we start to think about saving the common John and Jane in the community.

Sad but true fact, that.

Oh well, I was about to be run down by a _motherfucker_ of a Pokémon – it was just so fucking big, as big as my Charizard and that's a fucking dragon. But I wasn't the only one about to be run down. May was right behind me, screaming and shaking with paralyzing fear, her eyes staring in despair at the creature bellowing towards us.

Guess she'd find out what I'd been up to a little sooner than planned.

"The Aura is with me…" I whispered, and watched as the awesomeness literally unfolded on me, hugging me in dark-grey weave, expanding my muscles and power to inhuman magnitudes. May's screams behind me stopped, and I could feel her eyes on me now, as I evolved in a flash of brilliant blue light and shadow tracing after each other.

I was the Guardian again.

And just in time. Because just as I felt mind and suit becoming One, the behemoth leaped of the ground, shattering one of the round tables as it jumped right through it like it was nothing but dust on the wind, and _flew_ straight into me.

Its hands were put together, forming a club, and it drew it over its head and readied it to beat the ever living daylight out of me.

I stopped it. _We_ stopped it.

As if it was little more than a human, the Slaking was stopped in its tracks as I caught it with my own two hands. The only sign that I'd actually done something spectacular was the cracks and groans that emanated from the floor below my feet, as the physical strain almost became too much for it to bear.

May gasped behind me in suitable disbelief – that made me feel more cool and awesome than the actual sequence had – and I drew my leg up and kicked it the fuck _off_ of me.

Squatting off in powerful stance, my will and Aura sent a solid, almost transparent, pulse of energy through the air against the monstrous being that had _dared_ to attack me and frighten May. It was powerful, yes, but it was insignificant to my _Power_. I obliterated its controlled mind from its body, killing it in a blue flash that tore savagely through skin, meat, blood, and bones like super-hot, tiny needles.

It crumpled heavily before me, eyes wide and unseeing against the cold, unforgiving void I'd just pitted it to – the poor bastard.

"Sorry…" I whispered, for some reason the guilt wasn't present. I had a feeling the suit was just drowning it for now; there was fights to be fought on the horizon. I could see Pokémon on the ground hundreds of meters below me, my power acting as sonar through the floors. I could hear car alarms going off and screams of people fleeing away from the madness.

I felt it all – as I said, knowing will always be my curse and gift.

I turned to May, who had found some semblance of control over her fears, and looked her up and down, making sure she had sustained no harm. "Think you can keep a secret, honey?"

May ignored my blasé attitude – or maybe she was too fucking scared out of her mind to even hear my words. "Ash…? Is that you?"

"In the flesh…" I blinked. "Or something." _Poor choice of words, man_, I thought. "It's me, yeah."

"What is that?"

"Dunno, talk for later. Listen, May." I was feeling suggestions and plans of how to proceed from here slip into my brain like I was making the shit up on the spot. Right now, I didn't really care how the suit worked as long as it worked for me. And it did. "The League officials are escorting Lance out of the building by the stairs. They're – hold on – okay, they're not far beyond that door." I pointed to my left at the emergency exit. "Take that way and follow them, they'll protect you."

"What about you?" People were being hunted left, right, and fucking center now, journalists and guest, everybody scared out of their minds. I had to act soon or this would turn into a slaughter. "I'll be fine, just go! Run before it's too late."

"But…" May wanted to protest – ah, why the hell does people want to get involved with things they couldn't possible understand, Drew? Why? Is it part of the human spirit? The power of love, perhaps? Whatever it was it was really starting to test my patience – and I'd never had much of that to begin with.

"Just run!"

She ran, bless the masters above, she ran to safety.

And I turned back, into the first real fight of my renewed life, back to the best fight I'd ever have.

The game had changed – and I changed with it.

* * *

And that's that. Thanks for reading, guys! Please, leave a review to let me know what you think.

The next update might take a little while. But expect a big and epic battle across Saffron City that will be the first real test of Ash's power and his strange suit.

Again, thanks for reading. This wouldn't be half as found without you.


	8. Painting the City Red

**Disclaimer****:** I own nothing - has been said before, I think, but better safe than sorry, right?

**A/N****:**Yeah, it's been a pretty long time since I updated, I know. Sorry. I've been pretty busy with other works of fiction. I hope this chapter will make up for the wait. Ash is going to throw down and he's going to throw down hard.

Now, I have to give a huge thank you to those who've reviewed. Thanks to:

_Mercenary Flyer_: Thanks for the review, and the thing with May was to illustrate another part of Ash's character. Hope this next chapter will live up to your expectations.

_Noblenoisii_: Haha. Sorry. Couldn't help leaving it there, really. I thought it was a good place to end it, you know, building up to the first real fight of the story.

_blackicethunder_: I try to write every chapter so it doesn't feel like it is just a "filler chapter". And I've always enjoyed stories where the writer treat the story and its characters like they were real persons. No matter how outlandish the powers and monsters in the book may seem, they have to feel real to the protagonist because it is real to that person - in this case, Ash. Thank you for your review.

_Pyrrhos Nightmare Dragon_: Thank you again for the review, but the real badassness should - hopefully - be this chapter.

_spdyturtle11_: Thank you for your reviews, that's great you enjoyed it so much. I hope that you'll like this one, too.

_snooper roofle_: Thank you for your kind words, and thank you even more for your advice. That's really the most important thing about writing, getting good and useful feedback in return. I'm not sure I agree with you, though - and I'm not saying that because I'm angry or anything. The exact opposite actually - but this story is written in Ash's perspective, using Ash's own words to describe the situations he sees, hence the overload of swearing and the "Live and learn" saying. People - or at least me - have some words we just use more than others. I have one or ten words I use almost every day, and probably a great deal more than I should. But then again, you could be right and I could be wrong, stranger things have happened. And I do see your point about being careful not echoing words - I'll look into it, and hopefully avoid it where it is unneeded and doesn't add anything to the story. Again thank you for your review. It made me consider some things, which hopefully will make me a better writer.

Thank you to all that have been with me so far, and an even bigger thank you to those that have reviewed, you make my day.

Merry Christmas!

And now, onwards with the story.

* * *

**Painting the City Red**

_He didn't do it out of some misguided sense of revenge.  
He didn't journey through the fires of Old and Dark because  
he saw some mythical power to be gained. No. He did it for me,  
he did it for you. He sacrificed his soul to give humanity another  
day in the sun. He became our salvation because somebody had  
to fight the madness. His name was Ash Ketchum – and he's Legend.  
Always and forever. _

_-May Hutton_

I adapted to the circumstances, I always had, Drew. We were all standing and looking at each other for a second, you know, confused as all fucking Hell as to what was going on – it was going down, baby! You know it's funny, the first thing that went through my head was not shit, there are many! What am I supposed to do? No, I was fucking excited, a fix of ecstasy burned through my mind.

I tracked May's progress, a half-thought tracing her path down the stairs, and came to some startling conclusion pretty fast. The monsters were not after me, I spent a half-second taking _that_ in. I wasn't the target, man; I just stood there feeling all confused – and perhaps a touch insulted.

I mean, look at me, Drew. Take a look at the goods; revel in my presence like I was The Second Coming, because it's not that far off.

They should have focused all their attention on me!

A Pokémon screamed to my left, the suit identified it as a Primeape a split-second after I did and I got front-row seats to a bloody massacre as the motherfucker just jumped _right through_ the elderly _girl_ in blue that May had been talking with before, tearing through flesh and bones like it was fucking paper, man.

She didn't even have time to scream before she was _down_, her head no longer attached to her body.

Seeing that, jarred me into action – can't save them all, man.

I saw red, red-raw flashes of fury, almost blinding me, quivered my already strained sanity. I moved, almost breaking the unstable floor beneath me, and blurred into the fuckers face. I grabbed it between my hands, holding its round head-body… thingy – what do you call it. Bio-body, right – and I felt its skull crumble beneath my fingers as I squeezed.

It had a second to take it in, a precious moment between one second and the next where its eyes went from mad to silly-stupid and wide, and then it went far and unseeing and most certainly dead. I let it go and moved on, not dwelling on what I'd just done. It would only slow me down. And there were still screams in the room, a heavy stench of death settled over the atmosphere, and I was mowing down monsters turned mad. I was the only one that could, after all.

Innocent women and men were scrambling over tables and fallen debris, seeking cover from the madness they couldn't possibly fathom the meaning of, and I fought – as I'd been born to do – taking monsters down with my Aura faster than a speeding bullet.

A girl, who was younger and far prettier than me, screamed as a Pidgeot came screaming through the window, a shower of broken glass in its wake. I lifted my hand on instinct, a pool of sizzling, pure energy in my hand, and suppressed fucking Aura at the thing that would dare to hurt such an innocent thing as the girl.

My attack cut through the air between me and the bird in less than a second, slashing through its impressive plumage and through its heart. It crumbled in front of the girl's feet, dead and _cursed_. I was just about to draw my eyes away from the sight, and into the game again, when something caught my attention, something that wasn't supposed to be here now.

Laughter. The girl – _woman_ – I'd just saved was laughing, all throaty and delighted – _femininely_. I shivered as a lance of cool pleasure shot through my body; going through this cold, steely weave of awesomeness like it was nothing.

Her body _rippled_ with energy, changing before my eyes as if changing skin – like fucking Nymphadora Tonks from Harry Potter – and suddenly the thin form of a young girl had been replaced with the oh-so fantastic curves of Sabrina.

She turned to me; a little giggle on her lips like the world wasn't coming undone around her. "You have a world to save, Guardian – don't fail on me now, Ash Ketchum – I've plans for you." She shimmered, her body going in and out of focus as if losing the connection, and then she was gone like she'd never been there.

"What – what the fuck?" I was flabbergast, had she just _teleported_? I think she did – _wauw_? For a moment, nothing else mattered. She – no – what?

_Moving on_, I said to myself, turning my body and mind back in the fight. But my mind was still a little off. Sabrina knew my secret. Had she known it since back then, since the first time I challenged her all those long and hard years ago? Maybe, possibly, most likely, yes. Ah, fuck it all to…

_BANG!_

Something big and hard slammed into me, it didn't have Aura, and I was forced on my ass, busting up my messed thoughts and effectively turning the world back on. Sounds and aromas made sense again, I was unbound, and I was moving already. The little shit of a Raticate that had thrown the table at me tried to dodge as I came flying at it, jumping as fast and as far as its legs allowed it to. It was not enough.

My fist collided with its stomach, making it double over in pain, and I grabbed its ears with my hands, driving my right-knee into its head so hard blood _pumped_ out of the back of its head. I threw its corpse away and went at it, hands blazing with blue fire, and shot at everything and everyone, my shots hitting the targets with inhuman precision.

I could do this all day – with eyes closed and a scotch in hand. Well, maybe not the last part.

They fell around me, and I stumbled in the wake of my beams of pure power. The people had seen me now, seen what I could do, and flocked behind me, taking shelter in the shadow of my tremendous strength. But the Pokémon had seen me, too, of course, and were also flocking me, but for a different reason, I suppose.

It became a slaughter there. To me, they might as well have been humans. I was mowing through them faster than weeds, pumping them so full of Spheres of Aura there wasn't even blood left behind. But it didn't matter, either, because the bastards just kept on coming, pouring in from the balcony like it was a gateway to another dimension full of blood-sucking demons waiting for something to eat.

I created shields that could withstand Hell itself, maneuvering it around to block the incoming arcs of fire and destruction. Rainbow-colored lights danced around me, humans screamed for salvation, and the floor was groaning so much I thought it a wonder it hadn't broken down already.

I felt to one knee, took a fucking knee, Drew, my will and power failing me slowly, painfully, and I was just a shaken mess of corded muscles and Aura that was fighting alone against something far bigger than me. If Sabrina could _teleport_, then why the fuck couldn't she'd stayed around to give a damn hand?

Fucking cunt! Yeah, I'm talking to ya.

My body ragged with so much pain even the damn suit couldn't dull the ache, man. I thought I heard May. Must had been my mind playing me a fool, right? I mean, I told May to run; she'd have been down with Lance now, getting her delectable ass saved, right? _Right_?

"ASH!" Ah, okay. So she hadn't listened to me, after all. Because she was standing right beside me, her revealing, red dress dancing so desirable around her hidden curves of untold pleasures in the vortex of wind and power, created by my power clashing with the Pokémon's. And she looked fierce and scared at the same time, standing her ground even through her own fears.

I loved her for that.

But it was a stupid-ass decision, because now she was an open target, out of the range of my shield, and the Pokémon had spotted their opening, directing their awesome powers at the innocent girl I loved.

I was beyond fury – at that moment I was even more inhuman than the machine I was inside. As if Harry Potter himself had swung his Holy wand, my shield expanded into a dome of scorching energy, encompassing May and the rest of the humans behind me.

And just in time to save May's life. The arcs of destruction hit my shield and were deflected up through the roof. "YOU DARE!" I screamed, out of my mind with cold fury. "I'M GONNA KILL ALL OF YOU!"

I pulled my outstretched hands into my torso and, as if following my hands, the boiling dome of Aura began to shake and move inwards, turning the heat around us up and smoldering the floor. Just what the hell was that floor made off? It should have been broken down by now. I felt the strain of my full power unleashed all at once, knelling on my one knee, my whole body shivering like I was ragged with the plague. When I felt it was good and ready, I threw my hands out again, screaming pure insanity against the madness of the controlled Pokémon.

My shield-dome – call it something else if you want, Drew – flickered with _unspeakable _power and changed into a sphere of super-hot, raw energy. And with nothing but a half-thought, the Sphere charged the Pokémon down.

_BOOM!_

This time, some of the floor broke down at least. The Sphere expanded upon contact, lighting up the whole damn room and making even my senses blinded. May stumbled into my side, the howling wind pushing her, and I caught her without taking my eyes off the chaos I'd created.

The lights fainted off, and I heard May suck in a breath as what I'd done was revealed to us. Hell, even I was a little surprised by the amount of damage I'd done. Barely three feet in front of us, the floor just ended. My attack had cleaved off the floor, balcony, and even most of the wall, leaving nothing but silence in its wake.

_I hope nobody was down on the street because it's raining._

"A touch excessive, perhaps," I said into the silence, scratching my steely neck. I stole a glance to the side, shamelessly enjoying what the thin sheen of sweat did to May's body. "Didn't I tell you to stay with Lance?"

"Ah – yes… I – how?" May looked lost of all bearings, hugging her arms under her breasts in what looked like an attempt to shield herself from the destruction in front of us. She snapped out of it a moment later, taking it on a leap of faith, I think. "The roads were blocked," she said, all composed and sharp. "They tried to ship Lance through the tunnels under the streets to the Pokémon Center – None-League members and security personal weren't allowed to follow."

I raised an unseen eyebrow, feeling a headache coming. "They just upped and left innocent people hanging because of a damned _protocol_?"

May nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Wait, go back a sec, the road was blocked?"

"Pokémon blocked them, kinda like they'd thought out a sound plan before attacking, which should be impossible, right?" May frowned in thought, biting her bottom lip. I wanted to kiss her, to make love to her, to fall asleep with her in my arms, Drew. I wanted peace already. You see what I meant, right? She could turn me, dull me – break me, man.

"You'd think so, yes," I said, trailing off, I _remembered_.

"Don't go all enigmatic on me now, Ash Ketchum."

"Would you keep it down," I hissed, glancing at the horde of people behind me. They still hadn't dared to actually move out from their hiding spot. "I'm trying to keep some form of secrecy here, May."

"Oh? Like a superhero kinda thing? Well, that's pretty cool – good headlines…" May lost herself in tomorrow's paper for a second, probably thinking about what to write already. "What are we going to do now?"

I smiled, still unseen, man, and took a step toward the destruction I'd waged. "You're going to stay here, and this time actually do it, and I'm going to take a _leap of faith_."

"Sorry?" May blinked. "A leap of faith, what do you mean?"

"See you later, honey. Don't wait up," I called over my shoulder.

"Ash," she whispered. "You're not making any sense."

My voice softened into something sweet and _human_. "Stay here, May, you'd be safe."

Then I jumped from eighty-seventh floor, free falling through mad Pokémon and fiery arcs of devastating attacks. May's frantic screams rang in my ears, and I turned the hardened mask of a seasoned warrior back in place – unseen and unbound – and started twisting my body in the air, firing Flying-Types down as I fell.

Before I knew it, I hit the ground – _hard_ – landed in a crouch, and took off a split-second later like I hadn't just done the impossible. It was chaos, just terrible, dark madness of a hellish power unleashed upon a godforsaken world.

The concrete ground was on fire. Everything was on fire. Fire. Cars had been toppled over and lay abandoned on the road sides – and, you guessed correct, on fire – burned corpses, flattened and ashen, were scattered all over the streets. People were still screaming around me, though, there were still survivors; I still had someone to save.

But that was the farthest thing from my mind. I didn't know if it was the suit or simple just me that had a couple of screws loose, probably a bit of both, but I simply didn't see the situation in front of me as critical: it was a battlefield, sure, but it was also a test of my new, awesome powers, Drew. Something big and concrete to measure myself against.

I was fuckin' excited, buddy.

But even that excitement was dulled by the suit, hidden in favor of cold, hard logic and assumptions based on facts. Basically, it turned me into the perfect weapon, no conscience, no emotions, just cause and effect. Wait, cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and effect, there it was, man, _cause and effect_!

Why the Fucking Hell didn't our _bigass_ cannons rain down one _helluva_ godly firestorm upon the Pokémon when they attacked us? I looked to the stars and the masters above, wondering why the hell all the expensive defense mechanisms, which had been paid with citizen's tax money – _my hard-earned money_, I might add – hadn't blasted the Pokémon to kingdom come already. I mean, if they take _over forty percent of my hard-earned money_, then whatever they use it on better fucking work properly, man!

Yes, I'm angry – you should be, too!

_Boyscout_… Yeah, I'm talking about you, Drew. Do you bend over for them, too? Be a fucking man and take a stand for once in your pathetic life.

Anyway. I spent a half-second wondering why the Pokémon hadn't been gunned down when they first arrived before the suit provided me with all those logical assumptions and statistics. Power-failure of some sort seemed most likely, especially if you considered half of the blocks buildings were without power.

"_Danger,_" the smooth and dangerous voice whispered inside my helmet and brains, and a moment later I was feeling it, too. A Hyper Beam screamed at my back. I spun about on the broken concrete, my movement taking me well out of harm's way, and raised my hand toward the Dragonair that had attacked me.

The blue, snake-like Pokémon floated on midair down the street like a boss, another purple beam already forming in its orifice. I was faster, though, I let the energy course through my arm and into my palm. A cone of ethereal light flickered to life, and shot out like a pencil-thin beam of concentrated power a second later. It traveled the space between me and the Dragonair, sixty feet at least, in the span of a second, carving through its forehead like laser.

_I didn't even know I could do that, Drew! _I just did it.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I whispered, waving my hand around like it was on fire, as the creature fell spiritless to the ground. "What the fuck did I just do – and how do I do it again?" But it was a stupid question, because I'd memories of being here before, taking down enemies like that before. Aaron, and therefore me, had done this before.

"Ah, I wanted to fly…"

A girl ran out of a shop a little down the street, _Meet your new friend today_, the sign above said. A Pokémon store, then. Cute. What came squealing after her wasn't cute at all, though. It was a hideous, there's no other word for it, Drew, Jynx. And I swear by my mother's grave, it looked like it was trying to kiss the poor girl, kiss the soul right out of her body, I mean.

A second later, and I was tearing through fire and chaos to get to the girl's rescue – feeling my blood pump me full of adrenalin again. But I didn't make it, because just as I flung my Aura sphere at the crazed Pokémon, it got its clammy hands around the poor girl's neck and kissed her. She sagged immediately, I could imagine her eyes grow cold and distant, and she fell down just as my attack took the Pokémon's head off.

When I arrived to the scene, the Pokémon and human were lying almost on top of each other, uncanny smiles on their faces. Yes, even the one I'd just cut off was smiling like I'd just granted it its biggest wish.

That took my breath away. That gave me the sudden spike of the pulse, the _fear_.

It wanted death because it didn't want to do what it was forced to – because even Pokémon knew that's just wrong.

* * *

_That was one helluva day, huh? You were there, weren't you? You saw how people act when shit hits the fan hard and merciless. We are like Pokémon. When all logic fails us, when the chaos is unleashed, when it is every man and woman for themselves, our precious codes and morals are worth shit._

_We become worse than even the most savage Pokémon._

_No. No, I'm not blaming them for anything. I'm not blaming them for thinking of themselves first in a situation like that. Hell, you could say I was thinking of myself, too, because I was bloody well enjoying myself._

_Insane? No, I'm not insane, Drew, do your homework. I am a stand-up sociopath. There is a difference. There is. Are you or are you not a psychiatrist, huh? Anyway, I'd kinda been waiting for something like this to happen. I had a sound plan. Fight and stale. Give time to Lance to assemble his own personal army of Pokémon at the Pokémon Center._

_I mean, with Lance at my side nothing could stop us from taking the control of the city back, right? My power and Lance's army of dragons and Pokémon trainers would see the insane Pokémon burned before the night was over._

_That would have been too easy, of course._

_I fought my way down Silph Street, blasting and slashing through hordes of different Pokémon. And at that point, I thought that I would be done and done by the end of the hour, maybe even catch some alone time with May, because it didn't matter what they threw at me, I just killed it._

_I was good and getting better._

_I end up at Wall Street and that is where the real party is, Drew. Sorry. That _was_ where the real party _was_. Sometimes, it feels like I'm still in the game, you know, those burning memories that just won't leave you no matter what you do… no matter how much you just want to forget._

_Forget is a bliss is a curse is a stupid man's game._

_Or something like that._

_But in any case, it was at Wall Street that the big guns were fighting. A small amount of defiant Pokémon trainers were scattered across the road, and were fighting with every Pokémon they could control at one time. I joined the fray, trying to stay alive long enough to not get dead, and watched as the good Pokémon and their trainers fell like flies around me – and I can – could – do nothing about it._

_But then the light came souring on the burning night sky above. It was just so beautiful, you know, just beautiful. Lance and his dragon came flying through all those arrows of fiery energy, dancing on the sky like the most elegant ballerina._

_The few Pokémon trainers that were still alive saw their chance, got back into the game with renewed energy and vigor, and started fighting back. And we were winning; I blended in and took them out in the shadows. We were fucking winning, Drew._

_And then everything went from okayish to really fucking badish…_

* * *

I _jumped_ over the Flamethrower, reaching sixty feet easily, and rained down bombs of Aura on my attacker, a Charmeleon of all things.

Arcs of multi-colored lights, sizzling beams of energy and fire designed to kill and wage chaos, cut through the air. A large battle was being waged before the Gym, Sabrina's Gym, and I wondered if she'd sought cover inside the reinforced walls of steel. Then again, she could be in another Region if she could really teleport. At a quick glance, I panned out the battlefield and its contesters. Lance, riding on the back of his trusty Dragonite, had arrived not five minutes ago and was leading the battle in the air. The few Pokémon trainers still alive on the ground were scrambling head-over-heels, shouting out orders in obvious fear to their Pokémon. They were dying, all of them.

We were laughing ourselves silly, twisting round ourselves and firing at everything we deemed worthy of our Aura Spheres. We tore through-

_I_, goddammit, I… _I_ was laughing _myself_ silly, twisting round _myself_ and firing at everything _I_ deemed worthy of _my_ Aura Spheres. Man. I tore through their numbers easily, savagely.

Men and women, dressed in official League attire, were running toward the madness now, steely expressions firmly in place, and jumped right into the fray with Poké Balls and enhanced guns. More wild, crazed Pokémon joined our enemies, somehow finding enough brains to realize that they needed to focus on this part of town.

All civilians were gone, killed or worse, the field of battle was evolving into a wasteland of death and burning destruction. A building was collapsing, a twenty floors terrace-house, burned and destroyed by a Hyper Beam from I-don't-know which Pokémon. It gave a mighty groan, the most terrible sound I'd probably ever heard, and it just… lost it legs, you know, groaned and collapsed.

All there was left was fire – fire and death.

I stopped, blinking, unseeing, I remembered again. I remembered seeing this somewhere else. I remembered running faster than my skinny legs could carry me, as Pallet Town burned a couple of miles down the hill.

I remembered it being my fault – _always your fault, Ash Ketchum. Now get you head back in the game!_ – I jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding whatever that white beam was, tucked and rolled on the all but destroyed street, and got back up and shot a scorching shaft of energy straight at whatever had attacked me. It was all pure reflexes, really.

Lance's eyes were wide and wild. Heaving and pulling, he got the Dragonite he was riding to move, barely getting out of the way of my attack.

Oh.

Shit.

Lance screamed something, a comm link appeared on the side of my visor, and I realized the suit was hacking their frequency so I could overhear him.

Two seconds. Two seconds was all it took before the suit had hacked the secure network of the Pokémon League, Drew. Two seconds and I'd access to practically anything I wanted.

Two seconds. Damn.

"…Get that abomination of my street!" Lance screamed into his mike. Wait, what? He was looking right at me. I looked over my shoulder, I looked to my right, and I looked to my left: nothing. Even our good ol' insane Pokémon were retreating, like their realized what was about to happen.

"Ah, fuck it all…"

They were about to fire at me. The whole surviving squad of League officials and Elite Four and Champion of Kanto were about to fire everything they had at me. The air seemed to be supercharged in the moment between his order and when they complied with it. I felt the ground shake beneath my feet – or maybe it was just me that shook in my steely weave – and I could only watch as hundreds of enhanced guns and super-trained Pokémon pointed their attacks and bullets at me.

"…to fucking Hell."

I tensed every fiber of my being, enhanced cords of muscles and Aura, and pooled so much potent power into my hands that I could probably make this whole goddamn city go _boom-boom_. A thin string of ethereal light simmered out of my hands, so thin and lithe you'd think it was blue air. Slowly, it reformed itself, all guided by my intent, into a very thin, almost opaque, dome of energy. That dome shaped into the same size and form as my body and settled over my great weave.

It was kinda cool, but all I could think at the time was, _what the fuck am I doing?_ But I didn't get to think that for long because they released their attacks just as I'd wrapped myself in this… thing.

The air was hot, the sky was black, only lit by the lighting that cut through it, and I stood alone against the power beyond_ Mother-fucking-nature_. But you know what, Drew? Underneath the thin, blue shield, underneath the super-strong helmet, a shit-eating grin split my face as I reveled in the moment. Me against the odds.

I know who I'd bet on that's for damn sure.

I wouldn't bet on myself – just so you know.

_BOOM!_

For the second time that evening, the world became blinded, white lights and an annoying buzz in my ear, but this time I actually felt it. I fucking felt pain, and it was _glorious_, man. I could feel pain! I was still human!

Except, humans don't survive over hundreds of Pokémon and bullets blasting you down at once, do they? I was covered in smoke and dust, kicked up after the attack on me, and I used that to my advantages, spanning the area around me.

It was like someone had decided to throw a nuke.

I stood in a crater, deeper and wider than the building that had been caught in the crossfire, and wasn't sure if I felt awesomely scared or sacredly awesome. Because this was sacred, you know, standing on the scorched earth, with _magma_ running between my feet.

I didn't even have a scratch on my body.

The pain was dimming already, though, and the dust and smoke was being carried away by the wind. Slowly, teasingly, I was revealed to the Champion and his merry band of followers. I thought about Giovanni for sec, where was he? Didn't he escape with Lance and the others? Were Team Rocket abound somewhere in Saffron, using the chaos as a distraction to go after the Master Ball?

If they were, I'd failed my mission to protect the Ball, because Lance and the others had seen me now, gaped at my continuing existence, and stilled in terrible, fearful silence. I was out of their world by the looks on their faces.

I broke the deadness between us. "Lance! I'm not here to fight you." In that moment, I hated this mechanic, inhuman voice even more, because it obviously rubbed them the wrong way. I pushed on. "We need to get the power to the cannons back on! It's our only chance to end this mess…"

"It – it speaks!" a Pokémon Ranger said, deeply disturbed tone of voice. He took a step back when I turned to him. "Stay back, you freak!"

My suit scanned his face – _Patrick Phillips_ – scrolled down the side of my visor a second later, along with his entire life story. "Mr. Phillips," I said just to scare and unnerve him even more. "Shut up before I make you." I turned back to Lance. "As I was saying – before I was so rudely interrupted – we need to get the power back on, Lance, it's our only chance to set this right."

"What the fuck are you?" Lance hissed at me, ignoring my words completely. More screams and explosion waged in the distance, and I could see fat, fetid smoke rising from buildings streets and streets away. People were dying while we were having niceties!

"There is no time! WE HAVE TO GET THE POWER BACK ON BEFORE MORE PEOPLE DIE!" Okay, maybe yelling wasn't the best idea, but I was kinda out of it – had been for years, really.

Ha. Ha.

My yelled words must have been interpreted as threatening behavior, because even that big and mighty Dragonite staggered in the air, like I'd sent a burst of pure power at it by my words alone. But I couldn't do that, right? I wasn't that powerful. Was I? Am I, Drew?

Don't answer that, buddy.

Lance shook his head, holding his temples like I'd screamed into his ear. "Okay, do that again and you're dead," he said, voice cold and full of promise. "I'll ask you again, _Pokémon_, what are you? Where did you come from?"

Pallet Town, I almost said. I blinked, however, and looked down at myself. _Pokémon_? I looked back at Lance. "What are you talking about – no, forget about it. Lance, we need to organize a line of defense and we need to get the power back-"

Patrick Phillips, good ol' Patrick Phillips, screamed in primal fury beside me, it sounded like a girlyman's scream, man, and started Swiss-cheesing me with speeding bullets. I didn't even dodge them, raising my right-hand like Neo; the thin weave of ethereal light around my body sprung to my palm and deflected all the bullets like it was snow.

Silence ruled the air between us again. The silence spoke more than a thousand words. It was dark. It was fearful. It was like a brooding cloud of impending doom on the scorched horizon. It was a mad eternity of regrets and mistakes and the make-believe.

It was me.

"Ash! My God, Ash, what the hell is happening down there?"

I almost jumped in my skin of awesomeness. There were voices in my head again. And trouble on my burning horizon. But then I recognized the voice, the sheer bastardly brilliance in the old man's voice. The Old Man's voice. Professor Samuel Oak was with me again. I could see a comm link with his name-tag in the upper corner of my visor.

"Hey professor," I said lowly, cheerily, because nothing says _I got this_ like false cheer. "Did I wake you up?"

Oak sighed on the other side. I could almost imagine his eye-roll. "I leave you for a couple of hours and the world is ending around you. Ash, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"Oh, the usual, you know, crazed Pokémon with intelligence on par with humans." I frowned at the horde of League officials in front of me. "And Lance is being a dick as usual, as well. Like I said, the usual. That was a lot of usual… I don't _usually_ use usual so usually much-"

"Are you done?"

"Well and truly fucked, yes – sorry the language, but this is one heck of a ride."

"_Are you done_?" Would Oak really hang up on me? It sounded like he was close to.

"Yeah, done and done. So… got any ideas how to get the power back on, seeing as these assholes don't seem to want to work together?"

"The power? Oh, the cannons…" Oak seemed to do something on his end, playing with some kind of remote, and suddenly I heard the TV turn on. Oak sucked in a breath. "Well, that didn't take you long to make a name for yourself again…"

"What?"

"Look up," Oak urged me.

I complied with his command, looking up against the glaring lights coming from the helicopter above. Oh. "Please tell me that isn't a news-helicopter…"

"When I give orders to," Lance's voice sounded over our comm link, interrupting my conversation with Oak. "You give this… Pokémon… all you got. Shoot to kill, men."

"Lance?" Oak asked confused, franticly. "Lance, is that you?"

"The suit hacked the League's network. He can't hear what we're saying unless I want them to, but we can hear what they are saying."

"How do you know that?"

"The suit told me," I half-lied. The suit had, in a way, told me. It had showed me memories of something similar, something Silph Co. had been working on for years now. The suit just did it without trouble where as the greatest minds in the world couldn't.

"The suit told you?" Oak sounded horrified. "Ash, are you sure that suit is good news?"

"Yeah, fine news, the best of news. The suit just hacked their network in two seconds like it was nothing. We have access to all their files now, all their communication, everything."

"I'd say such a thing was impossible, but given what I've already seen that would just make me sound stupid."

"Ha. Ha." The sound of my laughter rumbled into the silence, echoing from me to Lance.

"Is it… mocking us?" Lance said, acting all indignant. He pulled at his Dragonite's neck, making it rear back its head with a sphere of something hot and dangerous between its lips. "Shoot this fucker down!"

"Get out of the way, Ash!" Oak yelled, sounding more afraid than I'd ever heard him.

I frowned. "Ah, no, I don't think so." I stepped off, planting my feet so solid in the crater I could withstand mountains, and focused the raw energy inside of me to something defiant and cool. "Don't take your eyes off the screen, Professor. I'm gonna be a rock star."

And just as Lance yelled, "Fire," and Oak yelled, "Ash," I released my wave of blue energy.

The attacks were coming in hot and fast at me, and my tidal wave of Aura was slow and heavy, but it didn't matter how slow it was because all the beams of fire and death were just _absorbed_ into my energy, creating a wave of multi-colored, otherworldly power.

I turned the night sky ablaze, motherfucker.

One helluva monster-wave, sizzling with barely restrained energy, cut through the hordes of Pokémon and League trainers. But I'd kept my humanity with me, locked inside the deepest parts of my being, because the wave wasn't designed to kill, it was designed to push and distract, as I made a run for it in the wake of my power.

Like fireworks, the world was on fire around me. Men and women, strongest bunch Kanto had to offer, felt to their knees as my Aura slammed into them. I saw Lance loose his grip and fall down, his Dragonite not far behind.

I saw my chance. Blurring with untold momentum, I jumped through the air, through fires and falling Pokémon, and plunged Lance right out of the air. I landed in a crouch, skating along the dirt and rumble, took off running, and hid behind the nearest wall. Lance _squealed_ in my arms, kicking and hitting at me.

I laughed.

Giving the man a slap to the head, I threw him against the wall, putting my blood-red visor directly in his face. "Where is the generator?" I asked, voice mechanic, cruel, and all kinds of intimidating. "Tell me where it is, and you shall receive no more suffering."

He spat me in the face, the wet liquid running down the side of my visor. That pissed me a little off; there weren't any windshield wipers on this thing, man. "I'm not telling you – anything," he grunted through the pain.

I laughed, strong and half-insane, I suppose, and tightened my hand around his neck. "Tell me where the generator is or every man and woman in this city will be dead and gone before dawn."

"I – I won't… argh!" I clenched harder, feeling his bones and tissue quiver under my hand. "Silph… Co. building," he finally said, hoarse and broken – ashamed of his weakness.

I let him fall down –_ of course it was in Silph Co._ – seeing routes back to the building flash by the left side of my screen like a fucking GPS. I looked past Lance, seeing people and Pokémon panning the area close to us with my Aura, and made sure he wasn't dying before turning my back on him and toward the Silph Co.

"What – what are you?" Lance said quietly, controlled. I turned my head leisurely, giving him a blasé attitude with a half-look over my shoulder. All part of the mask, Drew – I was frighten by the question. Lance looked weak and oh-so tired, coughing up some blood. So something did burst inside that weak body of his. "What are you?" he repeated, stronger and less controlled voice this time.

Everything was quiet, the turmoil and madness were quiet around us. It was only me and Lance, all alone in the dark, dead ally. The shadows seemed to reach for me, not able to hold all the monsters that only I saw, not able to hide my most inner thoughts. I was scared, not of the world around me, but of the monster lurking _inside_. Had I really almost killed Lance – the champion of Kanto?

"I don't know," I said and, with all the masters above as my witnesses, I felt defeated already.

* * *

_Fighting for your life is not a matter of skill or power. It's a matter of the soul, of the mind, of the sheer will to survive. And fearlessness is just a weakness waiting to be explored by your enemies. There are those who say that the fear of death is stupid, that it is evil. Those that say so, Drew, are what I call know-it-all idiots who have never been in a real fight in their life and just want to sound wise._

_In a fight, in a battle, in a life and death situation, there is nothing more important than that jump of a pulse when the monster is about to rip your head off. That sudden jump tells you to duck, to dodge, to get out of the fucking way. That sudden jump, that sign of fear, is the impulse that will save you more often than any hard-earned skill or power ever will._

_Don't get me wrong here, if you want to make a difference like I was trying to, you need those hard-earned skills and power, but if you were just trying to stay alive, you needed to fear death – and be strong enough to work past that fear. Or better yet, work _with_ that fear._

_The problem was, that sudden spike of the pulse, that tell-tale sign of blood-freezing fear, had left me. I'd become, from the moment I put on the suit, fearless. And that's just a weakness waiting to be explored by my enemies. I didn't fear death because I'd already died – died and reborn inside this damned suit – I couldn't fear something I understood so well._

_We fear the unknown, you see, we fear what we can't understand. I know what it means to die. I know what it means to gaze into Infinite Darkness and feel it stare back at you, judging you. I was way past the limit; so far gone I didn't even feel the border breath down my neck with its putrid odor of Death._

_How can I save you all when I can't even tell the difference between right and wrong anymore? How shall I ever find it in me to be a hero to the masses when all I care about is how much I enjoy waging havoc and chaos? Tell me, Drew, what I am, because I simply don't know. And the scariest thing is, I don't even care about that, either. Voices of Past and Olden whispers in my ear, tells me that war is won by the one who is willing to sacrifice the most._

_For every battle I take part in, for every monster I eliminate – for every time I slay my own mortality and morality – the lines blur a little more, making it all but impossible to see where I'm going. I sacrificed my soul, Drew. Would you have been prepared to do the same?_

_But, Drew, I still have hope because I have friends. Cliché, I know, but I have friends that would never turn their back on me. And those precious few friends are counting on me to set this right, to show the world that one madman is not gonna win just because he has the power to control Pokémon with his will._

_I will win, I have to…_

* * *

I left Lance behind, blurring between damned wreckage and burned corpses faster than I'd ever thought possible. May was, hopefully, still back at Silph Co. and maybe she could tell me where exactly the generator was inside that building. My bet was underground, because that's where those things usually are, Drew.

Why didn't I just ask Lance? Well, he probably wouldn't have told me unless I started to get really rough with him, and I really didn't have the time for that. The world was coming undone, you know?

I barely made any stops along the way, throwing beams and spheres of Aura around here and there, trying to save what little I could along the way, trying to make that goddamn difference we all want to. The city was ablaze, though, great column of smoke and fire rising into the twinkling starts above. Buildings looked dark and abandoned, the power slowly cut from the whole damn city. You could still make everything out clearly, as if the fuckin' sun was still burning down on us with its rays, because even though the power and lights were gone, there was still hellish fire burning everywhere.

The City of Light had been replaced with the City of Fire – still lighting the world up like the Torch of Hell.

But that was nothing, that was easy to swallow, just as the dead bodies lying fucking everywhere was. It was the Pokémon, wild and insane, scatting up the walls like the Hulk that was truly frightening. They weren't even after something anymore, just mindless destruction when it was _sweetest_.

They hadn't been after me today, never had, they'd been after Silph Cooperation, but why? It didn't make any sense – if someone was controlling these beast, and there had to be one, then why did he or she not try to steal the Master Ball instead of just destroying the place.

Flying-Types split the night above me, circling humans like the reaper, and I threw arcs of devastating attacks after them for good measure. _All just part of the bigger plan, chief_, I thought, jumping over a toppled and burning car, and sent a burst of superheated, blue flames from my palm and into the bigass Nidoking before me. It crumbled under the onslaught, its purple hide, evolved to withstand any fire known and unknown to mankind, melted of its bones faster than a second.

I jumped over its lifeless and smoking eyes a second later, blurring through the streets back to May, back to Silph Co. and the generator to the cannons. "You know how to restart the damn things?"

"Ah, not entirely, no," Oak said, his tone hesitant, unsure. "I mean, I think I can work it out once I see it, but I'm not sure."

"Fantastic." I could see the Domain Tower a couple of blocks away now; it looked dark and dead, devoid of electricity like the rest of the city, half of the side blown to oblivion. It looked like a terrorist attack. Well, I suppose it was some kind of terrorist attack, a new kind. "Can you see May, Oak? Is she alright?" I'd asked Oak to hack into the security cameras, the ones who operated on their own power, and check in with May a couple of minutes ago. So far so good, I'd divert their attention to me.

"She's fine. How was it seeing her again?" he asked me out of the blue, sounding far calmer and teasing than he had all evening.

"You really want to talk about that now," I said, blasting three Pokémon away with a wave of my hand. "I'm kinda in the middle of something here." I jumped three floors and through the window, landing in the middle of the stairwell of Domain Tower, a shower of broken glass falling after me. "Eighty-four floors to go."

I _flew_ up the stairs, sometimes jumping over whole sections, and felt Pokémon scale the side of the building, going up and down a few feet and a wall of solid steel away from me. _Shattered_ bodies and smears of blood lined all the way up the stairs, some of them wearing those official-looking, dark suit and sunglasses. I thought I even recognized one of them as the one that had checked me not four hours ago.

This was the people left behind.

Damn how time _flies_, huh? I could see the end of my route now, smoke billowing down from there: not good. I couldn't hear anything but the wasteland of destruction way down below: not fucking good.

Oak was getting everything I saw. The suit established a link, remember. "My God, who would do this?" he said, as I caught a glimpse of a man split in two at the waist, a set of teethes digging into where his navel used to be. Oak sounded as sick as I should have felt.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," I promised, jumping five floors up and latching on to the rails and hoisting myself up. "We'll avenge this…"

I heard Oak nod on the other side, don't ask me how, Drew, and nodded myself. We just made a silent promise to figure this out, because somebody has to fight the madness, man, no matter what the cost. "We will avenge this…"

I reached the smoke in record time, blurring right through it with all-seeing eyes. "May? Where are you?"

"Red?" May yelled. _Red?_ "In here." I followed the voice, tracking it back to the edge of the destroyed balcony, the only place where the air was just a little clean. I can't tell you how relieved I was when I heard her voice, man. The few survivors I'd first saved were huddled together; seeking warm and comfort in their numbers, but May had risen and met me halfway. She didn't hug me, which I admit would have been a welcoming gesture, but she did looked mighty relieved. "How did you survive that fall?"

"No time, the Pokémon have gone mad," I said, feeling the suit edging me to get the niceties over with. "Look, the cannons should have blasted them out of the sky before they even made it halfway in here. Somebody must have tampered with the generator. Do you know where it is?" _Why did hell doesn't Oak know about it?_

May frowned, scratching the side of her head, and raised a perfect eyebrow at me. "Well yeah, I do – everybody knows."

"Great," I said and waited for her to elaborate. She didn't. "May, I've missed a lot of things the last couple of years. Tell me where it is?"

Something in my voice must have jarred May into action. "It's down in the basement," she said, fast and urgent. "But you need a password to unlock the doors."

"I'll just blast my way through," I said, already turning to do just that.

"No, you can't do that!" May grabbed my shoulder. And then she stopped, frowning in confusion. "Wow… it feels so real…" she ran her delicate hand down the side of my shoulder, almost caressing me, and I felt myself shiver in cool pleasure despite myself.

I shook my head, clearing it of past pleasures, and grabbed her wrist. "Why can't I do that?"

May snapped out of her thoughts. "It will self-destruct if you don't punch in the password first. The cannons will be reduced to useless pieces of junk."

"Great," I growled, looking over May's shoulder at the sorry bunch behind her. My suit was already working for me, as if knowing what I wanted before I did it myself. Bingo. "Take him." I pointed at a man with balding, grey hair and a white suit. "Mr. Jacobs knows the code – and how to operate the damn things."

May looked between me and him for a second. "How do you know?"

"Jacobs, get up here now," I yelled, making the man jump in fright. He rose up quickly, not daring to contradict my words. "You two are gonna save the city, okay? We need to get the generator back up and running."

"You're not going down with us?" the man, Benyamin Jacobs, asked me as he came to stand beside us, his words opposed by his body language that practically screamed at me to go away.

I shook my head. "I have a feeling that the Pokémon will storm this place the moment they realize what we're about to do," I told him honestly, seeing his face go milky-white. I enjoyed that – if he hadn't been so chickenshit, he would've gone down there the moment he realized that something was wrong with the cannons and fixed them. It would have saved a great deal of people. "I'm going outside to keep them at bay; you just focus on getting it up and running again."

May nodded, her eyes looked troubled but defiant; she'd do what was necessary. That scared me more than everything else that'd happened this evening. "Let's go," she said, looking with a raised eyebrow at me. I looked at her, my confused look going unseen beneath my mask. She gestured with her head down and I followed it, noticing that I still hadn't let go of her hand.

I released it quickly; thanking the masters above that nobody could see my rising blush. May smiled at me, expression enigmatic – perhaps even a touch seducing. She grabbed Jacobs arm and pulled him with her into the dark smoke.

"But how will the Pokémon know we're reinstalling the thing? And what if the ones who cut it off are still down there?" Jacobs was grasping for straws, hoping to weasel his way out of this madness that had knocked on his door.

May didn't answer him, but she didn't stop, either. And a moment later, they disappeared from my field of vision, braving the smoke and ashes of the scorched walls. There was nobody down there because I couldn't feel anyone inside the building, and the Pokémon would come because they already knew I was here. I could feel them drawing closer to me like a moth to a flame.

I turned toward the hole in the wall, sparing the rest of the people a second glance. "Stay here, help will come."

And then I was off, falling through the air once again.

* * *

_Team work is important. Remember that, Drew… remember me._

* * *

I was born to do this. Born to fly, baby! I was born to defy the monsters and Legends that threatened to cover the city in Darkness-Neverending – and yeah, it is Darkness-Neverending, Drew – Darkness-Neverending and madness and illness and chaos.

Death and Darkness, the same thing, sometimes, but always and forever an instrumental part of my fucked-up life.

Live and learn, bitches. I learned the hard way. Still does. And I've said that all before so many times, yet never enough to make it known to the world that I'm just here to save it. We're all born equals, right? That's the shit of the century. We are all born with the gift of life. What matters is what we do with it. Yeah. No. What matters is what the big-shots tell you, Drew. What matters is how much and how well you can suck up to your bosses.

Funny thoughts, right? Those were the thoughts that swirled through my head as I plunged through the air, down and down and into the ground, man. I created a second crater, right next to my other, and set out immediately, panning the area surrounding Domain Tower for enemies and Pokémon turned mad.

There were coming from fucking everywhere, from beneath the ground, from the air, and on foot, all of them going for me with blazing insanity in their eyes. And they were big, holy shit, they were enormous. They were all grand cords of muscles, flexed and enhanced, like they'd been sprayed full of steroids. All kinds of Types, all kinds of sizes, all kinds of bloodlust, and all of it pointed at me.

Yeah, you know the drill, right? Fight until you have nothing left to give… and then fight some more.

I focused on my comm to Oak. "You got any ideas?"

"Do you have any Poké Balls on you?"

I blinked. "Sorry. This edition didn't come with extra pockets. Of course I don't have any Poké Balls!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"What good could a Poké Ball do, anyway?"

"If we could get our hands on one of the controlled Pokémon, we might be able to see what's affecting them," Oak breathed hurriedly, excitedly. "There has to be something that's affecting their systems to make them act in this way."

"Find a Poké Ball it is, then." I sighed. "You don't suppose Silph Co. will let me borrow their Master Ball, do you?"

Oak laughed with no humor whatsoever. "No. See if you can find some of those damned League officials. They gotta have spares, right?"

"Have faith, young one; is that what you're saying?"

"Something like that, yes." Oak hummed on the other end.

"I can't leave my post, though, May and that-Jacobs-guy need time to set it right."

"Lure them to you, then," Oak said, sounding like he actually believed that to be a good plan.

"Sorry." I dodged as a screaming column of white-hot fire cut right past me. The Charizard on the other end was colossal, not as big as mine, mind you, but still fairly impressive, and it looked hungry for burned meat. "Gonna have to call you back later, professor – trouble on the road."

"I see it – look out!"

"Got it," I snarled, as I raised my hand and caught the fist, ablaze with pure fire, and pulled it over my shoulder and hurled the Infernape the fuck off. Raising my other hand, I pooled a fuck ton of Aura in my hands, the grey skin vibrated with blue lights and shadows as I lit up like it was fucking Christmas, and fired after the trajectory of the Infernape.

I made it go _boom-boom_, Drew.

It became a fight after that – no, it became more than a fight, more than a simple struggle.

We were at war.

I turned the world and houses around me on fire with my power, firing arcs of multi-colored lights at everything that dared to get to close to me and Domain Tower. Some part of me wondered why the hell my Aura was more than just the normal blue color, but the other part of me was laughing blissful, brilliant insanity. This was awesome! I was feckin' awesome, man.

I was saving the day – and making everything go boom-boom. HA!

"HA! HA! DIE!" I snarled, fiercely, out-of-control, madness etched into my pretty face beneath my _blood-soaked_ helmet. I let loose whops of delight as I blasted the Charizard to pieces, never spending a second to wonder why that didn't make me cringe – it was so much like my own, man – and I just kept pumping and suppressing them full of Aura.

And I just didn't tire. I kept unleashing my cold fury into something tangible and dangerous, tapping into an endless supply of power. I was the reaper, I was the man with the dice, rolling it and already knowing the outcome. I was the magician to their dwindling numbers. I was _into_ it. It wouldn't have surprised me if I had a hard-on down there – somewhere.

I was crazy – batshit insane…

And Oak, poor, old professor Oak, was along for the ride, a not-so-silent spectator to my own undoing. "ASH! LOOK OUT! YOU'RE INSANE!"

I just laughed, not finding any shed of care to consider his words. I barely even heard them. "Watch me work, boys – because it's the last thing you'll ever see!"

An extraordinary roar split the air, making me lose a step and stop my single-mindedly war against anything that moved, and looked up, seeing Lance ride on his Dragonite like the fucking boss. He looked _angry_, no other words for it, Drew, just so angry.

"Kill it!" he screamed, going for me, and practically ignoring the rest of the merry band of psychotic Pokémon.

"MY NAME IS RED!"

We fought.

We fought and, Arceus forgive or forsake me, I enjoyed it. Turning the dust to smolder, ground to coal, we unleashed Fire. True Fire, Fire that could burn the very fabric of reality. He danced on the air, far more graceful and clear-minded than I, and somehow managed to control six of his Dragons of Doom at the same time.

I was fighting on two sides now, Lance and his Dragons on one side, and the wild, mad, and all-to-fucking-smart Pokémon on the other.

I was doing pretty well, all things considered.

I screamed a laugh out, which ended in a pained groan as I took a Hyper Beam directly to the chest; I _staggered_ and retaliated with my own beams of Aura. My five fingers alight with pure energy; I released five needle-thin strings at the Dragons around me.

They tore right through the skin of Lance's smallest Dragonite, making it howl in pain and fury as it staggered to the ground. I've never seen anything fall so gracefully, Drew, it was beautiful. Just beautiful.

"Ash, we need a wild Pokémon. It's our only chance to find whoever's behind this," Oak said, almost pleaded with me. "Please, Ash, find yourself, son…"

I don't know even to this day if it was his plead that actually got through to me, but it was like a cloud of darkness and misery lifted off my shoulders, and I could find some semblance of Ash Ketchum in me again. "Damn suit…" I mumbled, changing my beam, which was supposed to kill the Dragonite before me, into a shield that took the brunt of the next horde of fiery attacks at my person.

But I'd not made it strong enough, didn't have time to, and for the first time that night I was sent staggering and hurdling ass-over-heels to the ground. Hurting all over, dazed and half-conscious, I felt the suit starting to work on my medical condition, fixing whatever needed fixing – probably.

Then something sweet and golden resonated all over the City of Light. I looked up, tracing the sounds to the top of the skyscrapers, and saw, with no small amount of rapture, as the roofs split open to reveal cannons – Cannons with a capital C, man.

Lance recalled his wounded Dragonite and looked to the stars, too, sensing that something was about to turn in our favor.

"Ash, you need to find a Pokémon before they are killed. Find one NOW!" Never heard Oak yell before, always and forever something new, huh? "Get a fucking move on, son!"

_Did Oak just swear?_ I thought, quite incredulous. But I didn't dwell on it, not for more than a second at least, because then I was moving again, running faster than the eye could follow through hordes of insane Pokémon, scooped up a Poké Ball from one of the fallen trainers – and ran away from Lance.

But I didn't get very far before something big, strong, and ugly slammed into my side and caught me around the waist, and then I was flying, swept away by a beast. I didn't feel like the beauty, though, and wriggled around to release my hand and plunge it right out of the sky.

By the time I'd done just that, I'd realized two things: this was the third of Lance's Dragonite and it had carried me up to the eye of the Cannons. The Cannon zoomed in on us, and I thought for a moment I was gonna die with the beast, but then a red beam struck the great dragon and it dematerialized in front of my eyes. It was gone with the wind, man.

_Ah, man, that's just not fair._

For one second, one precious moment in between one breath and the next, I felt all alone and unmoving, floating on the wind in front of my executioner. But then gravity took its hold and I descended fast and blazing and screaming.

I slammed into something else, and I grasped for something to grab a hold on. I found its neck. It's big, long, feathery neck. I heard it howl at me; saw it snapping its long beak at me. It was a Fearow, usually known for its bad temper – this time was no different, just with a touch of madness thrown into the mix, chief. But it was busy because now the Cannons had recharged again and was raining down a godly firestorm upon us.

I was strongly reminded of my first fight against the insane and unknown. Back then, I'd been flying on the back of my trusty Charizard, a Pokémon that would go through fire and death for me. This time, I was on the back of a thing that would've, if not for the columns of laser blasting down at us, tried to kill me itself.

We spun through fire and laser, losing sight of where we were going, and all I could do was hold on tight with one hand around its neck and the other around the ball. I tightened my legs around its trunk and released my hand from its neck. Shinning with an ethereal light, I slammed my fist down on top of it head with all my might and Aura.

It didn't even groan, the lights just went out like a snap – for a moment I feared I'd killed it. But when I touched it with the stolen Poké Ball, the Ball absorbed the Pokémon in the tell-tale red lights. The Ball never quivered, just blinked red once and caught it.

And then I was falling alone. First then did I notice that the Fearow had taken me out of the city, a blue-green ocean stretching out below me as long as the eye could see, and I plunged straight into the waters, beneath the starry sky and twinkling Legends to be.

I'd saved the city – I'd won.

* * *

Done and done. Thanks for reading the chapter. Don't forget to review to tell me what you think. Did you hate it? Did you like it? Something I can improve? Just bring it on, folks.

Anyway, thanks again and I wish you all a merry Christmas.

We will probably not see each other until next year so happy New Year, as well.

Stjernefald is out of here.


End file.
